Agent Chuck Carmichael, CIA
by TheBlackHand724
Summary: AU after S2E11 Chuck V. The Santa Clause. Chuck is staring at Mauser and has a mental break. from the break comes Agent Carmichael. with this new attitude comes confidence, and with that confidence comes a plan. M for adult situations, language, and violence. Unbeta'ed. Please Review, TBH
1. Chapter 1

AN: I have about 26 chapter of this story but I wanted to see if anyone is even still reading Chuck stories before I finish writing the last ten chapters. If you want to read more review and let me know. These are raw chapters. So be warned the spelling and grammar might be bad in some spots.

Disclaimer: NOT MINE!

Chapter 1

Chuck looked at Mouser and then back to Ned standing by his sister. "So what's it going to be Chuck? Are you going to tell me where Bryce Larkin is or do I have to tell Ned over there to shoot your pretty sister?" Mouser asked.

Chuck didn't know what to say. His brain stopped working all together and he froze up.

"I'm getting impatient Chuck. I'm going to count to ten, if I don't get an answer by then I'm going to give Ned the green light. How's that sound Chuck? ONE!"

Chuck felt a spike of fear race through his chest. That sped up his pulse, and made his brain go into overdrive so fast it felt like time slowed down. What was he going to do? What could he do?

"TWO"

Chucks looked around the store, he didn't know what he was looking for. Was he looking for an answer? A sign? Sarah? Casey? They couldn't help him now. He was on his own, and back up was not coming. A part of him knew this day would come sooner or later. He knew that one day he would find himself in a situation just like this. Guy with a gun. No help coming. And his end immanent.

"THREE"

His eyes landed on his sister. But he never imagined his sister would be the one in trouble. This was not what was supposed to happen. Spy world wasn't supposed to touch home world. His eyes locked with Ellie's she gave him an innocent encouraging smile. She didn't know what was going on. She didn't know she was seconds away from death. But he had no idea where Bryce was. For all he knew he was off in some third world country tracking Fulcrum agents, but knowing Bryce, he was probably sipping martinis on a topless beach in the south of France.

"FOUR"

Then his answer came to him almost out of the blue. Looking at his sister he came to a blinding realization. He, Chuck Bartowski, was going to tell this Mouser guy the truth. He had no idea where Bryce was but he knew where the Intersect was. He was going to walk out of the Buy More with these two, and the first chance he could get he was going to try to escape. He knew the chances of him making it out of this situation alive was slim but looking at his sister's innocent eyes he knew he didn't care.

"FIVE"

A soft smile formed on his face. He looked back to Mouser and the smile got bigger. He didn't know why. He was looking at the man that was going to kill him and for some reason Chuck felt okay with that. He didn't know why, maybe it was the fact that he knew this was going to happen. He knew the likelihood of him living to see the age of forty was non-existent. A part of him was just glad it was Fulcrum and not Casey or Sarah. Thinking of them had him asking himself what they would do in this situation. Would they give up? Would they surrender?

"SIX"

NO. They would get out of this situation, and they would catch the bad guys. Chuck knew what to do. He knew what to say and how to say it. He knew that Chuck would be of no use right now. So he took every thought, every emotion, and every instinct in him that was Chuck Bartowski and shoved them to the side of his mind. Then he brought up everything he saw in the last two years working with Sarah, Casey, and, even Carina. Every look, every word, every movement. He took bits and pieces from each of them. Sarah's calculating mind. Casey's total badass-ness. Carina's adaptability.

SEVEN"

He took all of these things and molded them into one persona. He looked at his creation in his head and nodded. Yes this was what he needed. He slapped the name Charles Carmichael on his creation and embraced it fully. He absorbed the persona like a sponge and as the internal binding happened his external body adjusted to fit the new mold. His eyes became lifeless, and his smile shifted from soft to cold. His shoulders rolled back and he stood taller. He felt a sense of calm drape over him and obscure a core of cold steel. Looking at Mouser through his new eyes he knew exactly what to say and how to say it. It felt like every synapse in his brain was firing in time.

"EIGHT"

Looking in Mouser's eyes he saw a hint of uncertainty and his cold smile became wolfish. He knew Mouser was hesitant to get to ten, and with that last bit of knowledge Chuck felt a rush of power serge through him. He looked at himself in the reflection of the glass case behind Mouser and saw a man he didn't know looking back at him. He didn't know if this was what every agent went through. He didn't know if Sarah, or Casey, or Carina experienced the same thing he just did, but he liked what he saw. He liked this feeling of power.

"NINE!"

"You can stop counting now. I honestly don't know where Bryce Larkin is." Chuck said with a shrug.

"Oh Chuck, that's too bad. Now I'm going to have to tell Ned to kill your sister." Mouser said.

"You can kill everyone in this place and I still wont know where he is." Chuck said with a caviler smile. "Trust me, if I knew where he was I'd tell you. I don't really like him very much and the thought of you slowly torturing the information out of him brings nothing but warmth to my heart." Chuck said with Casey's smile and cold voice.

Mouser's shoulders sank, but his face stayed cold. "But if Larkin isn't here then why do we keep losing agents to this place?" He asked eyeing Chuck with suspicion.

"I can answer that for you. You keep losing agents because of me." Chuck said with Carina's crazy look in his eyes. "Allow me to introduce my self, Charles Carmichael, CIA. You might have heard of me?" Chuck asked with a bit of Sarah's confidence. "Now we can stand around here all night or we can talk about terms. You came here looking for something and it's not here. You sank a lot of time and resources into this operation just to uncover a CIA sub-station. A sub-station with a full lock down capability. I can have ten fully trained agents in here in seconds. You know they're down there right now thanks to the whole hostage situation. You're out gunned. You're out manned, and you've pissed me off." Chuck said in a low voice that carried all the weight of a full on yell.

"And what are you going to do Carmichael when I have Ned kill your sister?" Mouser asked with an edge to his voice.

"Hay, you watch that tone. I'm trying to come up with a solution to your problems and you're getting testy with me?" Chuck asked with a big smile. The smile dropped and was replaced with a very scary combination of cold eyes, and a tightening of his jaw. "I could just break your arm, take your gun, and shoot Ned over there before he even knows what's happening." Chuck said in a menacing growl. "But you see I kind of have a cover to keep. You know how it is." Chuck said switching back to the jovial tone from before. The emotional 180 had Mouser looking very uneasy. "You see the people in this hell hole think I'm a wimpy computer geek, and I'd really like to keep it that way. I pulled a lot of strings to be here in this city and I would like to stay here. As you pointed out, that's my sister over there. I mean how would you feel if I went to your house and killed your family?" Chuck asked with a laugh, but his eyes told a very different story. "Now we can play this one of two ways. One, I can, like I said, take you down and kill Ned over there for pointing a gun at my sister and shooting my partner. Or I can walk you out of here and over to my car. There I can look up Larkin's last known whereabouts and send you on your way. No one but me and Ned over there knows you're a Fulcrum agent. To everyone else you're a hostage negotiator. Unfortunately I can't let Ned go. He did shoot Major Casey and I'm going to need the promises of his capture and subsequent torture as a smoke screen to get you and me out." Chuck said.

"And how do I know you're going to hold up your end of the deal?" Mouser asked looking around with shifty eyes.

"You have my word that I'm not going to hurt you. Like I said. I get Ned. You get some information. We play this right and we both walk out of here with the same number of holes as we came in here with. We try to fuck each other over and someone gets shot. The truth is I would love nothing more then to see Larkin die. He really is an insufferable prick. You saw agent Walker right? I've been trying to hit that for a while now and every time I get close that asshole shows up and cock blocks me. I will ask that you send me a video of you guys breaking him." Chuck said with his crazy eyes on full blast.

"Okay how do we do this?" Mouser asked. He was really freaked out by Chuck now.

"Give me my phone. I'll call Walker and tell her we talked Ned into giving up. I'll tell her I told you what's going on. I tell her to send Casey in to get Ned. I'll tell her I'm taking you to my car so I can debrief you. I'll get you an NDA to sign and the other bullshit forms for secrecy. You'll finish up the clean up and leave the same way you got here, as a cop." Chuck said.

"Yeah. That might work." Mouser said nodding.

"Sure it'll work! Who do you think you're dealing with here? You really should look me up when you get out of here. Frankly I'm insulted by your lack of faith." Chuck said with that strange mix of scary eyes and a jovial tone. "Now call Ned over here and tell him you and I made a deal and that your taking me out of here to get you the information you need. I'll go over there and calm the rest of them down. The last thing we need is for one of them to try and take Ned." Chuck said slapping Mouser on the back as he walked away.

Chuck walked over to his sister and the rest of the Buy More guys. "Hey guys. I've got some stuff to tell you." He waited for them to gather around. "I've been talking to the cop Mouser and he's laid out his plan. He's going to walk me out of here and once we're clear SWAT's coming in to take him down. Now when they come in they're going to come fast. Mouser wanted me to tell you to get down on the ground and stay there." Chuck said.

"Why the hell do you get to go out?" Lester asked.

"I'm getting out because Ned formed an attachment to me and they need to get me out of here so they can come in. If I stay here it's going to drag this out all night. Do you want to be here all night?" Chuck asked.

Lester made a face "No, but.."

"But what? But it's not fare? Fine! The next time a crazy guy with a gun takes the store hostage you stand up and talk to him! Instead of all of you pointing at me! I've been dealing with this guy all day! Not you! Man the hell up next time!" Chuck said giving Lester his new cold glare.

Lester flinched away in fear. "Okay. I'm sorry!" He said hiding behind Big Mike.

Chuck looked at his sister. "El, when they cut the power I want you and Devon to get down, and stay down." Chuck said hugging her.

"I will Chuck." She said tearing up.

"I'll look after her Bro." Devon said joining the hug.

"Thanks' Awesome." Chuck said with a smile.

"Little buddy, Front and center!" Chuck said.

Morgan stood tall and saluted. "Leader!" He said.

"When the lights cut out I want you to get down. I'm putting you in charge of Anna's safety." Chuck said formally. He pulled Morgan to him. "Chick's dig heroes Morgan, but you have to live to get the credit buddy." Chuck said with a laugh.

"Understood! I'll tell the others. You have nothing to worry about." Morgan said.

"I knew I could count on you. See you on the other side soldier." Chuck said.

He turned around and walked over to Mouser. "We set?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah. Ned thinks I'm going to get him out of lock up after they take him. He should go quietly." Mouser said as he handed Chuck's iPhone back to him.

"Good, because if something happens to my sister then that hypothetical question I asked you earlier wont be so hypothetical." Chuck said absentmindedly as he called Sarah.

"What question?" Mouser asked.

Chuck paused before hitting the call button. He looked him dead in the eye. "The question about how it would feel if I killed your whole family." Chuck said nonchalantly. He hit the call button and turned away from Mouser.

"Chuck! Oh thank god! Ned's a Fulcrum agent. We need to get you out."

"Relax hot stuff. I know he's Fulcrum. I told the cop what's going on and I'm going to take him out to my car so he can sign the confidentiality paper work. I want Casey and you to led SWAT into the Buy More when I leave. Take Ned down and make sure my sister get's out alive. She's not an agent like us. She's starting to fray around the edges. I'll come back to the store when I'm done with the cop." Chuck said in his new Carmichael voice.

"So Mouser is Fulcrum too, and your taking him out to your herder?" She asked softly.

"That's right." Chuck said.

"Chuck this is very dangerous. I don't like this at all." She said.

"Hey! Who's the senior agent in charge? That's right, I am. Now follow orders Walker. I know what I'm doing. You just do your damn job." Chuck said.

"I'll be waiting by the herder Chuck. I've got your back." She said sadly.

"Good, see you in a bit." Chuck said miming hanging up the phone. He left it on and stuck it in his shirt pocket. "Alright. Lets go." Chuck said leading Mouser over to the door. Once they were outside Chuck pointed to the corner of the building. "The car's parked around the corner." Chuck said. Mouser pulled his gun. "The gun's not really necessary. You know that." Chuck said.

"Oh the gun is very necessary. You think I'm going to follow you around a blind corner so you can attack me? What do I look like to you?" Mouser asked pointing the gun at Chuck's chest.

Chuck saw Sarah out of the corner of his eye. He smiled. "I told you that if you tried to fuck me over you'd get shot. I wasn't playing with you. You only have one chance at this. Put the gun away or I promise you will get shot." Chuck said calmly.

"I don't think so. I think I'm going to take you back with me. My boss will be very excited to meet you." Mouser said

"You can't say I didn't worn you. Sarah take the shot." Chuck said.

From the shadows Sarah pulled the trigger and her silenced Smith and Wesson put a hole through the center of Mouser's chest.

Chuck walked over to mouser's corps and kicked the gun away. "It's clear. Good shooting Sarah." Chuck called over.

"Um… thank you Chuck. Are you okay?" She asked putting away her gun.

"Yeah. I'm good. You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm good." She said looking at Chuck like he grew a second head.

"Good. I'm going to see if everyone else is okay. You're still coming over tonight right?" He asked.

"Sure, I just have to report in and get changed." She said

"Awesome. I'll see you later." Chuck said walking away.

Sarah just stood there confused, and for reasons she could not explain, very turned on.

Chuck stood by the side of a fire truck looking over all of his friends as they huddled together. They were safe, and he Chuck… no, he Charles Carmichael saved them. Knowing the danger had past he let his new persona drop away and as it did his whole body started to shake. Feeling cold and weak he grabbed the persona back up and tucked it in close by, ready for when it was needed again. In his minds eye he pictured himself standing in front of a big glass window just like he was now, in his nerd herder uniform and his Chuck Taylor's. His posture slightly hunched over and a soft smile on his face. On the other side of the glass stood Carmichael, dressed in a black tux, holding a martini glass in one hand and a PPK in the other. His smile was confident, his eyes calculating. Chuck was confused for a second until Carmichael knocked on the glass with the slide of his gun. Chuck locked eyes with him and Carmichael pointed to a red sign that appeared on the glass. "Break in case of emergency, or if you need to be a total bad ass" it read. Chuck laughed. He was pretty sure he was going insane but what the hell? The knowledge that Carmichael was right under the surface gave Chuck a feeling of confidence and calm back. Coming back to himself he took a deep breath and calmly walked over to his sister. Locking eyes with her before pulling her in to a tight hug he knew why he was keeping Carmichael around for a rainy day. It wasn't for the feeling of power he gave him, or the confidence in tough situations. No he was keeping Carmichael for his family. For Elle and Awesome. For Morgan. For Sarah and even Casey. He was keeping Carmichael because he was going to help him stay alive long enough to see forty. He was going to help him through the tough situations in life. And he was going to help him get the girl.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah Walker: Yvonne

Chuck Bartowski: Zack Levi

THE LONG TALK: Sarah ran to her hotel room and stripped out of her yogurt outfit. She jumped into the shower and let the hot water wash away the dirty feeling of killing someone she felt every time she took a life. At this point she had lost track of the number of times she had preformed this particular ritual, but it was the only thing that ever helped. She thought back to the first time she took a life. It was her Red Test. The only thing she knew about the woman she killed was her name and the fact that she might have been going for a gun when she had pulled the trigger. She remembered calling in to Gram and telling him she had completed her assignment. Gram had just said 'okay' and that was it. She had just taken a life for the very first time and all he had to say was okay? She remembered wanting to scream at him, wanted to yell that she was dirty now. That she would never feel clean again. That she was going to hell now, and she would never she her mother again. But it was too late, he had hung up already.

She remembered feeling so wrong. She remembered stripping out of her clothes, the clothes of a killer. She remembered standing in her hotel room naked and not being able to meet the eyes of her reflection in the mirror. She remembered standing under the shower head with the hot water turned on full blast turning her soft alabaster skin blood red, the same red that ran out of the woman she shot that night. She remembered the water running cold and snapping her out of her trance and making her realizes she had at some point fallen to her knees and had been crying. She remembered climbing out of that tub and standing in front of the mirror covered in steam. She remembered wiping her hand across the surface of the cold mirror and meeting, for the first time, Agent Sarah Walker in the reflection. Seeing the cold blue eyes, and the lifeless mask of a killer. She had taken many of these showers in the past ten years, and the more of them she took the shorter they got. She didn't know if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. One thing that had changed over the years she never cried, not since the first time. Tears are for the innocent, not the guilty. The guilty knew, they knew that they didn't deserve the emotional release that crying gave you. In fact over the last eight years she had cried only a handful of times. Each of them had left her feeling a bit strange.

She dressed in a blue sweater and jeans. As she was getting ready to leave she went back to her closet and grabbed her overnight bag. Today she almost lost Chuck to Fulcrum, but she didn't. She was very proud of him for keeping a cool head all day in the face of an armed idiot, and for stalling him until they got there. As far as she was concerned he was a hero today and the least he deserved was to curl up next to her tonight.

As she turned into his parking lot she looked down at the charm bracelet hanging on her wrist. She smiled as she thought about what he said. She told him it was something to give to a real girlfriend, but he just smiled that cute nervous smile of his and said he knew. She had to use all of her agent training to keep her hand from shaking as he put it on her. He was so good at breaking down her walls. So good it scared her sometimes. He did it with that smile, and his charm. She found herself thinking a lot about him recently, about them. It all started with him breaking up with her to go back to his old girlfriend Jill. She was not prepared for how much that actually hurt her. She had stepped aside to let him pursue a real relationship for the second time now but this time it hurt way more. Maybe it was because he had a history with Jill? Or maybe it was because Jill was not just some sandwich shop girl, she was a Stanford graduate, and a successful scientist. And maybe it was because Jill was a beautiful woman, on par with Sarah herself. But a part of her, the part that was a trained CIA seductress, refused to acknowledge Jill's beauty. Refueled to be bated into a into a female pissing contest. Mostly because she had won. Not because Jill was in jail, no it was because she had heard Chuck's words as he arrested her. Chuck picked her, Sarah Walker. He picked his fake girlfriend over his real girlfriend.

Then there was his help with her father. He didn't have to do that, not at all. In fact he put his life in danger to help her with her dad. The same man that spent the whole week calling him a schonk. And even though he deigned it she knew he let her dad get away. No the more she thought about it the more she knew, she was going to try and find a way for them to be together. And she had to do it fast, before another brunette showed up and decided to try and take what belonged to her. She smiled at that thought: what belonged to her. The funniest part about that was she knew Chuck would agree with her on that. Yes, she was going to have to figure this out.

The Bartowski house was very festive that night. Ellie had spent a lot of time trying to make this night as special as she could for a few reasons. The first being that this was the first time both she and Chuck would have someone there for the holiday. The second was she was just happy to be alive tonight. They had spent the whole day held hostage at the Buy More and they all needed to relax after a day like that. The last reason was she wanted to help Chuck as much as she could with Sarah. She saw the charm bracelet on Sarah's wrist, and she couldn't have been happier for him. But try as he might, Chuck was no Casanova. She planed on making the night very relaxing and comfortable for Sarah and Chuck.

She was confident that one day Sarah would be her sister and she wanted to get the ball rolling on that front as soon as she could. She had been waiting a long time for a sister and now she would be damned if her dumb little brother messed this up. She was very disturbed to hear that he tried to get back with Jill. She was sure that he was a smart kid, but sometimes she was equally sure he had been dropped on that big head of his as a child. If she heard anything but engagement/moving in together news in the next three mounts she was going to put them both under house arrest until there was. She was just pulling the roast out of the oven when Chuck came shuffling into the kitchen.

"Hey sis, you need any help with anything?" he asked as he leaned against the sink.

"Not with diner I don't. but I do need you to do something for me Chuck." She said as she gathered the plates.

"Sure sis you know I would do anything for you." He said as he pulled the knifes and forks out.

"I need you to try to make this the most special Christmas you can for Sarah. I want you to do whatever you have to tonight to make sure she is going to be around for next year's Christmas, you understand me Chuck?" She said as she grabbed his shirt collar to pulled him level with her. "Sarah is an amassing girl Chuck, I want her to be a part of this family. You need to make that happen because Chuck you will never find a girl like her again if you let her slip away. I saw mom's bracelet today. I hope that means your serious." She said letting go of him.

Chuck hugged her and whispered, "I am El, but there are a few things we need to work out before that can happen. The situation is a little more complicated then it looks, but trust me El today opened my eyes you might say. I am working on a plan as we speak. And you don't have to tell me sis, I know."

"Well good." she said with a smile.

Sarah knocked on the door and Chuck opened it almost instantly. "Hi." She said shyly. She didn't know why she all of a sudden felt so bashful around Chuck.

"Hey" he said with a with a small smile. He saw the bag and his smile gained some confidence. "Planning on staying are we?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was planning on it. Is that okay with you?" She shot right back with the same raised brow.

"Well okay then." Chuck said as he led her into the apartment. He took her bag to his room and dropped it on his bed, when he turned to leave he saw Sarah standing in the door way. "Did you need something from the bag?" He asked.

"No." she said as she walked up to him and brushed a stray curl off his brow.

"Okay, did you need something else?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk to you." she said looking around his room.

"On, or off the record." He asked softly.

"Off, please. Is there somewhere we can go?" she asked.

"Yes, but it's going to be a little strange. Come with me." He said as he lead her out of the room and down to the end of the hall. He opened the door to the large walk in closet and turned on the light. "After you." He said.

Once they were squeezed into the closet Sarah got visible nervous. "I know I asked to talk to you but, um, I don't really know what to say now that we're alone." she said with a sad smile.

"Well did you want to talk about today?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, and no. I did want to say how very proud of you I am. You stayed calm, and you controlled the situation as much as you could. But that's not what I wanted to say. God! This was so much easier in my head." she said as she got more and more frustrated.

"Okay. If you're having trouble, can I say some things that I need to say?" he asked. At her hesitant nod he took a big breath and let it out slowly. "Today when the Fulcrum agent was leading me out the door, I stalled him by acting like an agent. I.. well I don't know. Today when I pretended to be an agent with him it felt different. Sarah it was like I made up a completely different persona and put him on. I felt confident. I felt powerful. I felt respected. I felt like a real agent. And the feeling I got when Mouser respected me as an equal really hit home with me. More then I thought it would. And I thought if people respected me like that for real than maybe I could be more help to you and Casey. Then maybe I can run my own life for a change and we wouldn't have to talk like this. I think it all come's down to respect. Maybe if you guys could treat me like an agent then maybe I could be better then I am now. That or I'm going crazy, and developing a split personality." Chuck said without meeting her eyes.

"No Chuck. You're not going crazy. We all do it. Separate the real us from the killer inside. I do it, I know Carina does it. But you do have respect Chuck, I respect you, and so dose Casey in his own way. I wish you could see that." She said as she rubbed his back.

"Yeah, I guess, but Beckman sure as hell doesn't. To her I'm the intersect, I'm a piece of military hardware. Some days it feels like she doesn't even think I'm human. I know I don't have any training but I've done a lot of good work. Work that I'm not being paid for I might add. But that's not even anything, I mean I would do this work for nothing. I know we have done some great things together and I would never give up that feeling of do the right thing for money but, it's just I'm… the very worst part of this whole thing is I can't tell the woman I love, that I love her, with out her being reassigned!" Chuck finished with a huff as his shoulders sank.

Sarah hugged him tight and buried her face in his chest. "But what can we do about it?" she said softly.

"I don't know, maybe there's a way for us to get those things from Beckman? Respect, compensation, a life together?" Chuck asked as he rested his chin on top of her head.

"I don't know Chuck? I don't see her giving you those things any time soon. But maybe we can come up with a way to make her." she said.

"I have the basic framework of a plan to get it all, but it's risky Sarah. Very risky. I've been thinking about it nonstop since we left the Buy More. I need more information, and no mater what we need to get Casey on board. The day after tomorrow do you think you could sneak me into Castle and on one of the secure computers?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's not a problem. What are you thinking about doing Chuck?" She asked with concern.

"I not sure yet. I promise I will tell you the second I have it all worked out." he said with a far away look in his eyes.

"So you love me?" She asked with a smile.

"Well yeah, um I didn't mean for it to come out like it did but, I really do." He said with a blush creeping up his neck.

"Good because that's what I wanted to talk to you about in the first place. Now that you admitted you love me it takes most of the pressure off of me. Chuck, I love you. I think I always have." She said with her head still buried in his chest to hid her own blush.

"Really?" He asked pulling away form her to look in her eyes.

"Yes. It's what I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to know so you could turn the next brunette that comes lusting after you away." she said with a small laugh.

"They do seam to pop up every once in a while." He said laughing as well.

"Yes well you are now off the market, your mine now Chuck." she said before she pulled him into a needy kiss that lasted five minutes and left them both breathless.

"Wow, that was intense." he gasped out.

"You have no idea what intense is. I have a year and a half of pent up sexual frustration to work off. You better come up with a plan fast, because I might just rip your clothes off one of these days. If your room wasn't so heavily bugged I'd skip dinner and show you just how intense I can get." She growled out before she attacked his mouth again. They kept at it for the next ten minutes until Devon opened the door to the closet.

"Wow, a little closet action. Awesome!" Devon said as he walked away.

"Well that was awkward." Chuck said before they both fell into each other laughing.

For the rest of the night Sarah never left Chuck's side. They sat almost on top of each other during dinner and when they sat down to watch _It's a wonderful Life _Sarah pushed him down on the couch first and then sat down on his lap. Over the course of the movie she slumped over more and more until she was laying on top of him by the end of the movie. Chuck wasn't idle during the movie either. His arms, that started around her waist were now firmly wrapped around her back. And his hands that started out flat against her smooth stomach, had spit up once they got to her back. His left hand found it's way into her right back pocket, and his right hand curled itself in the hair on the back of her neck. At the end of the movie Ellie and Devon said good night and left to two laying there in the dark living room.

"Sarah, it's time for bed." Chuck said softly as he kissed the top of her head.

"But I don't want to get up. I'm comfy." She said with a small pout.

"But the bed is even more comfy." Chuck said as he sat up, but Sarah was having none of it. She refused to let go of him. So Chuck just shrugged and picked her up as he stood. Sarah let out a startled cry and threw her arms around his neck. But apart from that she made no other complaints. Chuck carried her to his bed before letting her down. "Do you want to use the bathroom first?" he asked.

"Yes please." She said as she looked through her bag. She came up with a small black bag and a silk blue nightly.

Chuck made a small groaning sound in the back of his throat at the sight of the flimsy little thing at that moment Chuck broke the glass and let Carmichael out. "Sarah, can you please find something less reveling to wear? Please, for me?" Chuck asked in a strangled voice.

She looked at him quizzically for a minute before shrugging, "Why?" She asked.

Chuck looked around before walking around the bed to stand close to her. "Because," he whispered, "If you ware that to bed you will get reassigned. Because I won't be able to stop myself from ripping it off you. God Sarah you're an incredibly beautiful woman, the last thing I need to do is see you in that skimpy little thing and not be able to touch you." He finished with a growl.

Sarah looked into his eyes and shudder at the look of raw need she saw. It took all of her self control not to rip his clothes off. He was right, with the truth out in the open about how they felt about each other. The only thing holding them back was their own will power and right now she was almost at the end of her rope. "Okay Chuck, you're right. We need to be as cautious about this as we can. I'm so sorry I didn't think about this. I'm sorry for the sexual frustration. Just know that I'm going through the same thing." she said before she backed up and took the work shirt off of his computer chair and a pair of boxer shorts from his drawer. "I'll be back in a bit." she said as she walked out of the room.

Chuck let out a breath he didn't know he was holding before he shook his head and stripped down to his boxers and under shirt. He also changed the glass wall into a door. He needed to slip between the two personality more quickly. He was just climbing into bed when she came back into the room. Her soft bare feet making almost no sound. Standing there framed in the doorway, and bathed in the light of the hallway stood Sarah Walker, woman of his dreams. The light made the white shirt transparent, and showed the outline of every soft curve. Chuck was starting to think she would look sexy in anything. "Is there room in there for me?" she asked softly with a sexy little smile.

"Room? Um yeah… um." He finished not sure what to say.

"Good," she said climbing into bed with him. She readjusted her pillow closer to his and molded her body to his side as she snuggled into him. "Good night Chuck. Marry Christmas." She said before placing a soft kiss on his cheek and falling asleep. Chuck looked at her and breathed in the smell of her perfume. Something soft and light with a hint of lavender.

"Good night Sarah, Marry Christmas." he said rubbing chin agents the top of her head. 


	3. Chapter 3

THE PLAN:

Chuck woke up to the greatest sight in his life. Sarah was curled up to his side and her hair was tussled. Her face was free of makeup, and the top four buttons of his shirt had come open during the night providing Chuck with an un-obscured view of two perfectly sculpted breasts. Chuck didn't know how much time he had spent looking at Sarah's chest, but when he looked up her eyes were open. "See something you like Chuck?" she asked with a sexy little smirk.

"Um… I, um… I wasn't. But I. I'm just going to roll over and die now." He said with a pained look on his face before rolling over and burying his face in his pillow.

Sarah laughed and rolled over with him. "Come on Chuck. I'm sorry I embarrassed you. It's okay to look you know." She whispered.

"But I didn't mean to. I mean I just looked down and they were there, and they were looking back at me, and we kind of got into a staring match, and I think they won." He rambled.

Sarah let out a giggle and pushed him off the bed. "Come on Chuck. It's Christmas, lets go open presents." She said as she pushed him out of his room, but instead of turning right to head to the living room she turned left and pushed him into the closet. She grabbed his hand and put it inside her shirt. "Time to open presents, starting with this one." She said before she smashed her mouth to his. She broke the kiss gasping. "After we open presents I'm going to say I need something from my hotel room. We can have two hours together before we need to get back for the party tonight. I want you Chuck. I was so close to attacking you that night in the courtyard after that mission with Bryce in the train station. You have no idea. If I could have any one moment to redo in my life it would be that one. I should have gone first. I should have told you then." She all but growled out as she ran her hand down his abs before plunging it into his boxers and taking him firmly in hand. "I need you Chuck. I have for a long time now. I've spent nights awake thinking about this. I have to have it now." She said before she attacked his mouth again.

Chuck pulled back and looked at her. She was panting, her chest and neck were red and her lips were puffy from the kissing. But it was her eyes that almost put him over the edge. They were on fire with lust. The power those eyes had over him was huge. They had kept him calm during gun fights, gave him confidence before a mission, gave him hope for their future together when they were alone, and made him feel like crap when he screwed up. But never have they held more power over him then at that moment. And it was because he knew she was so keyed up, that she had given into her need for him that she let all of her guards down. It was at this very moment that he was meeting her for the first time. He knew that he, Chuck Bartowski, held total power over her, Sarah Walker.

Sarah Walker the girl, not the Agent, Seductress, Assassin, or Spy. Chuck Knew what he had to do. He took two really big breaths, and while saying sorry to his little head, he took hold of her forearms and held her out at arms length. "Sarah. Look at me. Look into my eyes and take a deep breath. There you go. Come back to me. I need you to be coherent when I say this." Chuck said as he ran his hands up and down her arms. He kept at it until he saw the lust drain from her eyes to be replaced with confusion. "Sarah, I love you. I have from the moment I laid eyes on you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And now that I know what you were going to say that night I wish I would have let you talk first too. The truth is that I was listening to very bad advice from a very unreliable source. I can see that now, but the reality of our situation is still the same as it was last night. Yes we can have two hours today or we can have the rest of our lives next week. I'm close, Sarah. Very close. I know most of what we need to do to have that, but I need information. I need access to Castle. I need Casey to go along with this, I need you to give me some spy training. And most of all I need you to trust me. I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me that you trust me as much as I trust you. I need the strength, and power I get from your eyes. From your words. I need it to get us the things we want. We are very close to having it all. I just need you to keep it all together for just a little longer. Can you do that for me? If you can I can make you a few promises of my own." He said looking her in the eyes.

She didn't know what it was about the situation they where in that had her more confused. She was still on edge sexually. She had never felt this hot in her life. And his will power to hold her off even though she could see and feel how much he wanted the same thing was doing something to her body that she couldn't even begin to explain. It was like the very primal core of her was in heat for him. His will power, and his confident words touched something deep in her. He had never been more sexy in his life then he was right now. Then there was the fact that he turned her down. He turned Her down? No one turned her down. Not princes, or presidents, or trained Agents. No she was Sarah Walker god damn it! She was The Demon of Columbia. The Goddess of the French Riviera. The leader of the CAT squad. The God damn Enforcer, for fuck sake. But then what he said registered. The rest of their lives? Did he just purpose? Then the world around her started getting smaller. She felt Chuck pull her to his chest and rubbed her back.

"Chuck?" She asked in a wispier.

"Yes?" he asked back as he pulled her back a little to look at her again.

"Did you just purpose?" She asked barely audibly.

"Yes I guess I just did. Um… I don't have a ring or anything right now, but Sarah Walker. Will you marry me?" He asked with a shy smile.

"No Chuck. You don't know me. You don't know me at all. You have no idea who I am. What I've done. I'm a liar, and a killer Chuck. You don't know what I've done." She said in a panicked voice.

"Sarah I know what you did. I know that you've killed people before. I know you're an agent. I know what that means now. I've been working with you for how long? You don't think I know what you had to do? Sarah, come on I thought you had a little faith in me. Casey once told me you were the best of the best. You don't think I know what being the best means?" Chuck asked with a sad smile on his face.

"You have no idea. You think you do but you have no clue at all." She said with a sad look on her face as a lone tear made it's way down her cheek.

"Okay. Then tell me." He said with the confidence from before back in his voice.

Sarah looked in his eyes and saw that same will power again. And like last time it was doing things to her on an animalistic level. But if he wanted to meet her. The killer, the seductress, the spy. Then she was going to show him who she was. "Okay, you think you know. You think you can live with it then I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you my authorization code. That will let you flash on my file. If after that you still want me then we can continue with this conversation. Until then I will say no, and I always will." she said trying not to sob.

"Okay. I don't know what you think I'm going to see that's going to make me not want to be with you but okay. Give it to me." Chuck said as he flexed his neck and rolled his shoulders. He knew she was the best agent in the CIA. He also knew she had ten years of training and missions. This flash was going to suck. He took a big breath and nodded.

"Charlie Alfa Tango 119653..." But she stopped when Chuck held up his hand.

"Wait, before I do this I need something." Chuck said before he kissed her. It was a kiss they had experienced before. That time they stood in front of what they thought was a bomb and just like last time Sarah thought it was that last kiss they were ever going to have. But Chuck knew differently. "Okay hit me!" Chuck said once they broke the kiss.

"3" She said and watched as his eyes rolled back in his head. After a few seconds she started to panic a little, he was still flashing. She reached out and grabbed his hand. "Chuck?" she asked softly. But the flash kept going. Sarah stood there for what felt like a lifetime, but was only a minute. Then Chuck eyes rolled forwards and he fell into her. "Chuck, are you okay?" she asked rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, just give me a minute to get my thoughts together. I knew this was going to be a big flash, but wow. You have been a very busy girl haven't you?" he said trying to get his brain working again. It was one thing to say you're the best CIA agent in the world, and it's another thing to go over their file. She was recruited at the age of eighteen. And she spent the next two years blitzing through the four year training program at the Farm. He read notes written by her instructors. Notes saying things like: _She takes to knife fighting like she was born with a knife in her hand. Her accuracy with a handgun at 80 feet is better then most of the other trainees at 18 feet. Agent walker can charm the pants off a seasoned agent but she doesn't need to, because her eyes and smile can have a man spilling his secrets before he even realized it. _And it was the last comment that gave him hope. And he was right. Of the 157, yes that number was right he checked it twice. She had only had to use actual sex just three times, and one of those times were with Bryce because they were being watched. The other two were the head of an IRA cell, and he meet his end before he even got the chance to enjoy it. The poison worked fast but not as fast as a drink Irishman. Chuck had to laugh at that one because she had written a lengthy complaint about it in her report. The other time was a international arms dealer and she wouldn't have been in that situation if not for a over step made by a C.A.T. Squad member named Amy. Chuck was going to have to look into this Amy. It looked like an innocent overstep, but Chuck was kind of an expert on messing up a mission so something didn't smell right to him. But aside from that nothing else.

He figured out thought his flash that Sarah was an absolute artist at playing men. She got what she needed with out having to go all the way. No if he was going to be freaked out by anything in the file it would be her record in the interrogation room. He knew they taught you some pretty horrible things at the Farm but it seamed like Sarah really played attention in that class. The images were hard to see but after hearing the horrible things these demons had done he felt no remorse for them. He was sure that if he was facing the same situation and had the same training, he himself could do the same thing.

And on the subject of demons, he learned that was one of her aliases. The Demon of Columbia. And for a very good reason she spent four months posing as a coffee exec. and killing members of all of the cartels until they started a three year gang war so bloody it almost wiped out all of the drug infrastructure in South America. It wasn't until the heads of the cartels had a peace meeting that they realized Sarah started the war. That was the day the Demon of Columbia was born.

That lead him to her kill total. The number was high, even by Casey standards. But he understood that she was given the very worst missions the CIA had to offer, and with those missions it was hard not to kill anyone. With that frame of reference the number wasn't that bad. But still, 248 people was still a lot. But like with her interrogation stats they were all very bad people. Traitors, killers, drug dealers, dictators, and terrorists. Really as far as he was concerned it was 248 scumbags that weren't around to hurt anyone else. The only thing that unnerved him was how she was able to maintain her sanity. He saw in her file her lack of trust in therapy. Had she ever talked to anyone about the things she had done? To Carina? To Bryce? To some other friend? He hoped so because if not, she needed to. No one should have to live with that.

The last thing he saw in her file that he didn't like was the lack of any life outside of missions. He might not have a detailed account of her off time but he could do the math. If a mission in Italy ends on the tenth of May and her next one starts on the fifteenth of May in Chile. That only gave her five days to travel back to D.C. write up her report and catch the next flight out. And that happened a lot more often then not. By his calculation she had been on 157 missions in the last eight years and had maybe half that number in days off. The sad part is he knew that was not what happened to other agents. They would get time off after each mission. Time they used to detox the adrenalin out of their systems, but not his Sarah. She was too good, she was needed too much. There was always another bad guy. Another cartel. Another terrorist cell. A non-stop adrenalin rush that lasted eight years.

He thought it was funny, she told him all of this to dissuade him from wanting to marry her. But to tell the truth it had the exacts opposite result. He never wanted her more. He wanted to be the home she was missing. He wanted to be her down time. He wanted to be her Adrenalin detoxifier. But more then that he wanted to worship her like she deserved. In his opinion she had been taken advantage of by the government. She was used and used, and they planed to keep using her until there was nothing left. And he'd be damned if they thought they could do that to his Sarah!

His Sarah? He didn't know where that came from but he liked it. He liked it a lot, and he was going to make that thought true. There was no way in the world he was going to let her get away. None. Not because he wanted to own her. In fact it was the very opposite of that. It was because she deserved to be loved. She deserved to be taken care of.

He looked up at her and saw a resigned look in her ice blue eyes. He reached out and took her arms in his hands he let his hands slide up her shoulders to her neck and on to her cheeks. "I do not now, nor have I ever, deserved you. I have known that simple fact for quite a while now, but when you're faced with just how awesome Sarah Walker really is? Well lets just say I really know now how far you're marrying down." He said as he pulled her in for a soft kiss.

"But What about all of the things I've done?" she asked softly.

"What things? Are you talking about the 157 perfect missions you completed in just under eight years? Or are you talking about how you blitzed the Farm in two years, a record still to this day? Or are we talking about the fact that you were assigned to the President's foreign protection detail while still taking sixteen missions for the CIA? Come on Sarah what things are you talking about?" Chuck asked while brushing the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs.

"All of the people I've killed…" was as far as she got before Chuck stopped her.

"No. Not people! Lives I will give you, but they stopped being people when they did the horrible things they did." he said making sure to maintain eye contact with her.

"But Chuck it's so many pe… um lives. Chuck I'm ashamed of the fact that it's so many I lost count. Do you even know how many?" She asked.

"Do you want me to say yes and we can call it all good or do you want to know the number?" Chuck asked still holding her eyes pined with his. She needed to see he wasn't effected at all about any of this.

"Number." She said softly. Before closing her eyes.

"No you will look at me." He said softly, but firmly. He waited for her eyes to open. "248. 248 very evil, very bad demons. Scum of the earth." he said firmly but it didn't stop the sobs from coming out of her. "It's okay Sarah. I'm right here. Let me help you." he said as he pulled her close and held onto her as tightly as he could with out breaking her. "Sarah, Marry me. Let me take care of you. Let me be there for you the next time you have to put down the next scumbag. I want to be there Sarah. All you have to do is let me." he said softly as he rubbed her back in soft slow circles.

"Yes." she said softly.

"Yes what?" he asked.

"Yes, I will marry you Chuck. Please be all of those things you said. I want them. I need you to be the one good thing that I've done in my life…" But that's all she got out before he kissed her. It wasn't hard, or soft. It wasn't needy, or fast. It wasn't even light, or sweat. It was all of those things and more. It was a promise. They both knew it.

"I will and more but you have nothing to be absolved of. Nothing. The CIA has much to answer for as far as I'm concerned. 157 missions with no vacation? Not going to happen again. Not on my watch. Now more then ever I know we need this plan to work. Now lets go get dressed and have a day of family, friends, and more love then you can handle. But do you think you can get me into castle with out us being on camera. If we can do it today I can get the answers I need and we can get Casey in on it tonight. I don't like keeping him in the dark and I know for this to work we need him." Chuck said out loud as he gestured with his hands for her to look at something.

She turned around and saw what Chuck saw. Sitting on the back wall of the closet was a bug. Sarah knew it wasn't there last night. She also knew it was one of Casey's, it matched all of the other bugs in the house. But it also meant that he heard every thing they just said. She looked back at Chuck and saw both fear and determination in his eyes. "Let's go Chuck. We have a big day ahead of us." she said.

They took turns in the shower and got dressed in mission black under Sarah's orders. As they left out the front door they saw Casey standing by the fountain. "Morning John. Did you need anything?" Sarah said as she casually reached for her gun in the back of her pants.

"Not right now, but I think we might have something to talk about later. I just thought you might need this." he said handing over a small communication blackout device. "It only has an hour long charge, but it should be enough time." he said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Chuck looked at the blackout device, and then looked back to Casey. "If there was ever one thing I could count on in this world, it was that you would do anything for your team, Casey. I just want you to know that the same thing can be expected from me, and Sarah. I want you to know that before we walk away from here. I want to make sure you know that I would do anything John, anything. So I want you to make a list of things you want. Be it gear, or hardware, or a shiny new Crown Vic. Because if this all works out we are going to get what ever we want, and I think that can include requesting a French agent be seconded to the team. When we get back I hope to sit down with you and Sarah and come up with a way to get the things on your list John, because we have a list of our own, and I want all of it." Chuck said before holding out his hand to Casey.

Casey shook his hand and to Chuck's surprise pulled him into a one armed man hug. "I know. You might not have started out as an agent but you're getting damn close Chuck. Damn close." Casey said before pushing Chuck in the direction of Sarah's Porsche. Sarah looked Casey in the eyes before taking three big steps and pulling Casey into a big hug.

"Thank you John." She said as she buried she head in his chest.

"I don't know an exact number but I can tell you it's in the mid three hundreds. I tried to stop counting, but I know deep down, I know the number. I think you have the right idea Sarah. Absolution for people like us only comes form people like him. Innocent, but understanding. Now if you will excuse me I have a list to write. Because I know one thing about that kid out there, when he has that look on his face things get done. The last time he had that look he came up with a plan to rescue my hot headed partner from getting shot over her con man father." Casey said as he pushed her the same way he did Chuck. And Sarah smiled the same way Chuck did. Because they both knew that was the way Casey said he loved them. She walked to her car and let Chuck in.

"So what do you need in Castle?" she asked as she pulled into the light traffic of Christmas day.

"Information, Sarah. I need Information. The more I can get the more power we hold in the coming days."

"Oh and don't forget we need chocolate and orange fro-yo for the party tonight, or Elli will kill us." She said as an after thought. The fear in her voice made both of them laugh so hard Sarah had to pull over. "I've been on the most dangerous mission the CIA could throw at me and yet I think I'm more afraid of disappointing your sister." Sarah said in between laughs.

"She's your sister too you know?" Chuck said with a smile.

"I don't know about that Chuck. How is she going to react to the truth about me?" She asked as she pulled back into traffic.

"What truth? That you love me? That you love her so much you remember her fro-yo speech word for word?" Chuck asked with a big smile.

"I know what you're doing and I think it's sweet, but you know what I'm talking about. How will she react to me being an agent?" She said without looking at Chuck.

"Well I don't know because I don't think I'm going to survive to see her reaction to you being an agent, you know because she's going to kill me after I tell her I'm an agent. So if she still has some energy after she rains fire and brimstone down on me she might yell at you?" He said with a shrug.

Sarah didn't think it was all that funny though. "Come on Chuck, I'm being serious here." she said as they pulled up to the Orange-Orange.

"The sad part about it is, I'm being serious too, and remember you said you would protect me from bad guys, that includes my sister. Ellie can be a little scary when she gets mad, and me having a dangerous job will surly piss her off. So when I tell her I'm a spy, and she comes at me, trying to kill me. You can stop her with some supper secret kung-fu and tell her you're an agent as well. You know what? That might just work. You fought terrible, huge, bad guys before you should be able to survive a cat fight with Ellie, right?" Chuck asked as Sarah turned on the blackout device.

"I don't know Chuck." Sarah said with a laugh, finally getting in on the joke. She knew what he was trying tell her. She was a badass spy right? How bad could it be? "Maybe we can tell her over the phone?" she said as she stood behind Chuck while he worked at the computer.

"That might work. Then again it might make it worse. She would have to find us and then beat on us and I think the whole finding us might add to the ass whooping." Chuck said as he pulled up all of the files for the intersect he shifted through them for a minute until he flashed. Man did he flash. For over three minutes Chucks eyes rolled back and his head lolled back and forth. After the flash ended he fell back into Sarah's arms. She helped him into the chair and he went right back to the computer.

"Chuck are you okay? That was a huge flash. What was it?" she asked.

"It's what I've been requesting but keep getting denied. It's the instruction manual for the intersect. I know how it works now. But more importantly I know how to make one, I know the coding. The requirements, the power output to not fry the brain when you upload it. Hell Sarah with enough money I could build one right now. The thing is I don't have to. Fulcrum is building one as we speak. The problem is they keep frying peoples brains. I flashed on a dead Fulcrum agent just last week in the information packet. Now I need just a few more things then we can go talk to Casey." Chuck said before he started searching through government databases. He had eight searches open at once and Sarah had no idea what he was looking at or for. Ten minutes later the computer beeped and Chuck started typing out something on a black window. He was at it for another ten minutes and Sarah had no clue what he was typing but the speed his fingers were moving across the keyboard was staggering. She was not the greatest at typing but she was no slouch. But the amount of information flowing out of his hands was insane. Finally he stopped typing. "Okay I'm going to run this and see if I'm right about this, but I think I am. Sarah I need you to go get the medical kit and take it into the other room. If this doesn't work I'm going to go into shock and I'm going to need you to hit me with the adrenaline to get me going again." Chuck said without looking away from the computer.

"WHAT?! Are You Crazy Chuck?!"

"Sarah it's the only way to test this. I need to do this for us. And in order to test this I need you to be on standby to revive me. Now I'm 95 percent sure this is going to work. But if it doesn't then you're the only one around that can keep me alive. Listen Sarah, remember when I asked you to trust me? Well this is the part where you need to do just that. I need you to trust me. Please." he said without looking at her. He knew if he looked in her eyes as she told him not to do this he would cave in, but he knew that this had to be done. He needed to test his theory. From a computer engineering standpoint what he was about to do made sense, but he knew nothing about the brain and for all he knew this could really mess him up. He didn't want her to stop him because the longer he waited to run the test the more his confidence dwindled. If she didn't go now he was sure he wouldn't have it in him to push the button. He felt her hand on his shoulder and he knew it was now or never. "Please Sarah, if we are ever going to have a future together then I have to do this now. Please go. I love you. I need you to go." He said as his hand started to shake.

"Okay Chuck, but if you die on me I will never forgive you! Do you understand me? If you die I will never forgive you! I have always trusted your judgment, I'm trusting it again right now, but don't you dare die on me!" she said in a voice stressed with tears and Chuck's chest hurt at the sound of it. He knew that this was going to be a major turning point in their lives. He had to know. He had to do this.

"Sarah I love you. Now go in the other room and wait for my call, if you don't here anything in five minutes get in here as fast as you can. I love so much, but this is for all of us. Now go!" He yelled not being able to stop himself from breaking emotionally. He heard her foot steeps on the concrete floor and waited for them to stop. He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm his shaking hands. He thought about what he told her and had to admit to himself that he lied to her. If this didn't work then he wouldn't go into shock like he told her. No he would die, and he didn't know what it felt like to have your brain overload and explode but he was sure it would hurt. "Good bye Sarah. I love you." he said softly to himself before he hit the enter key.

A series of images flashed on the screen for the next two minutes and Chuck was in excruciating pain but he refused to scream. He knew if he screamed she would come running in here and see the screen and get hurt and there was no way he was going to let that happen to her. So he did the only thing he could do. He bit the inside of his cheek and gripped the arm rests of the chair until he heard the metal scream under the stress. Just when he thought he couldn't take any more pain the images stopped. And he slumped forwards in the chair. "Sarah!." Was all he could gasp out before he collapsed forwards out of the chair. A part of his brain, the only part that wasn't hurting found it funny that whenever he messed with the Intersect he always ended up on the floor. His brain provided a few jokes about the difference between the Intersect and tequila but he was in too much pain to get the punch lines. All he knew was that an angle was hovering above him and he knew he had made it to haven.

Sarah didn't know what to do with her self. The last two minutes had been the worst two minutes of her life. Her Chuck was in the other room messing around with his brain and here she was, standing in the other room holding a medical bag. She looked back at her watch and noticed that it had only been thirty seconds since the last time she looked at it. that's when she heard it. It was the faint sound of his voice. She ran around the corner to see him laying on the floor. "Chuck! Talk to me Chuck what's wrong? Where dose it hurt? What do you need?" she asked as she picked up his head and put it on her lap.

"Hey pretty lady. You look like an angle." He mumbled out through the pain.

"Chuck tell me what to do." She said with tears streaming down her face as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Exactly what you're doing now is fine. And some aspirin if you got some?" He asked with a smile. He didn't feel like smiling right, but he saw how scared she looked and he knew he need to show her he was okay.

She pulled out bottle of aspirins and grabbed the bottle of water from off the table next to her. "Here Chuck. Take these." she said as she put the two pills in his mouth and helped him drink the water.

"How long do we have left on the blackout?" he groaned out.

"A little over twenty minutes. But if we need more time I can get another device from off the shelf. Don't worry about that, just relax." she said softy.

"We can't, it will look suspicious if we're here too long. We have to move. Help me up. We need to keep moving." He said as he sat up. He took the bottle from her and drained the rest before he had her pull him into the chair. "Now give me one of your knives?" He said holding out his hand. She looked like she was going to say no so he held out his hand higher and gave her a pleading look.

"Okay, but be careful it's very sharp." she said as she handed it over to him handle first. He took it in his hand and looked at it, he flashed and the pain was blinding. He let out a low moan. "Chuck are you sure you're okay?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

"Yes. Now take anther knife and throw it at that sign over on the wall please." he asked and in the blink of an eye a knife was sticking out of the middle of the three by five inch sign on the wall twenty feet from them. "Good, now would you say that was an easy throw?" he asked.

"For me? Yes. For another agent? No. Why?" She asked.

"Could you do it sitting in this chair?" He asked.

"Maybe? But it would be much harder. It would limit my range of mobility. Why Chuck? What's with all the questions?" she asked.

"And what are the chances of me hitting that sign from here? Go ahead, you can say it. Not a chance in hell right?" he said and she just blushed. "Don't worry, up until ten minutes ago you'd be right. But not now." Chuck said before flinging the knife and sticking it a hairs breath away from her knife. When he looked at it he started to laugh hysterically.

"Chuck? How… um How did you just? But I mean?" She looked at him like he had grown two heads.

"Well Sarah. If knife throwing is a skill that can be learned. And all learning is remembering. And the Intersect codes information into the brain. Then why not store skills instead of just information?" he asked with a shrug.

"So you're saying that you Intersected knife throwing into your brain?" She asked. She knew it was a dumb question to ask, she had just seen the evidence herself. But the fact of the matter is that until just now she didn't think it could work like that and well she needed to here him say the words.

"In a manor of speaking yes." Chuck said with a huge smile. "I also downloaded basic fighting skills, Shooting skills, Spanish, Japanese, French, and a patch that should help me flash faster, and more accurately." he pulled a NSA bulletproof flash drive out of the computer. "And now I know it works I can tweak it so it doesn't hurt as much next time. The upload speed is still too fast. It overloads my brain and gives me a massive headache, but now I know what the problem is and I can fix it. But the real pain in the butt is processing power. With this program and an intersect mainframe I can be superman. But I don't know if it will work for someone else. Help me out of here we have to get to Casey's place and I don't want to be here if the blackout dies out on us. Come on, your going to have to help me _weekend at Bernie's _style." he said holding up his right arm. She slung it over her shoulder and lifted him out of his chair. She half drug, half carried him out of castle and into the yogurt shop. "I knew you could carry me out of there, you have freakishly strong arms." he said.

"Freakishly? Really?" She asked with a pout. As she picked up two big tubs of frozen yogurt and walked over to him.

"Did I say that out loud?" he asked with his most charming smile. When she just gave him a dirty look in return he knew he was in trouble. "Let me off the hook because my head is still all scrambled?" He tried, but that just got her more mad. "I love you?" he tried and she couldn't hold it in any longer, she laughed.

"Come on lover boy lets get you home." She said as she helped him off the bench and into her car.

"You know it's not nice to mess with an injured person right?" he pouted looking out his window and not at her.

"Come on Chuck, you're the one who said freakishly. Just for future reference women don't like to be called freakish." she said with a big smile.

"Okay, but in my defense I really didn't mean to say that out loud." he said with a smile of his own.

"oh, so you were thinking it?" she asked

"No, yes. Maybe?" he finished with a laugh.

"What else do you think about me in that head of yours?" she asked.

"Well I think your Sexy and cool. I think you're Sarah Walker total badass. But most importantly you're a woman without equal. No one can reach your level of Awesome. Not even the captain. But most of all you're my Sarah. The woman that I love and want to spend the rest of my life with." he said with a sincerity that she was not expecting. She pulled into the parking lot and shut her car off before she grabbed his neck and kissed him. It was the same kiss they shared in the closet. It was the promise kiss as Sarah liked to call it.

"I love you too Chuck." she said before she gave him another promise kiss. "Come on Casey's waiting for us." She got out of the car and was about to help Chuck but he surprised her by standing up by himself.

"The aspirin is kicking in, and my headache is almost gone." he said as he rolled his neck and heard a few pops. "oh yeah, that feels so much better." he said.

"Good. I don't like to see you in pain. You make these really sad eyes that are hard to look at." she said as she got the buckets of frozen yogurt out of her trunk.

"Lets go talk to Casey. I want to see what he put down on his list." Chuck as he took one of the buckets from her.

"Hey, how comes I don't get a list?" she asked with a pout.

"You get a list but we need Casey's help and lets face it he's doesn't have the incentive of getting married and living happily ever after that we do. The big guy will have to be paid off so to speak. Plus if I know Casey like I think I do then I think some of the things he wants are going to be things that we want." he said before knocking on Casey's door.

Casey opened the door a few seconds later and ushered them in. "So did you two get what you needed. I must admit I'm very curious as to what you needed." Casey said as he motioned them to sit on the couch.

"In a second big guy. Do you have a place to shoot in here?" Chuck asked.

It was a testament to how curious Casey was that he didn't ask questions he just hit a button on a remote and a picture of Sodom Husain dropped down into the fireplace.

"Honey. Can I barrow your gun and a silencer please." Chuck asked holding out his hands. When Sarah reached into her purse and handed him the two items he requested Casey shot out of his seat.

"What's going on here. Walker are you crazy. Chuck be very careful with that!" Casey said as he advanced on Chuck with his hands out, but he was stopped by Sarah.

"Hold on Casey you need to see this. I saw it and I still don't believe it." She said.

"It's okay big guy I got this." he said before dropping the mag and clearing the chamber like an old pro. Casey was so stunned that he sat down on the other side of Sarah. "Now you know me Casey. What's the chances of me hitting Sodom over there from where I'm sitting?" Chuck asked as he screwed the silencer onto the front of the gun.

"Not a chance in hell." he said in mild shock. Not only was Chuck not shooting himself, he was handling the gun with the proper safety and care.

"And you would be right, but tell me Casey how did you become such a good shot?" Chuck asked as he checked the sights on the gun.

"I practiced, Chuck. Is that what this is? Did you practice shooting?" Casey asked.

"Nope this is the first time I've ever really handled a real gun before." Chuck said before he slammed the mag back into the gun and chambered a round. "I have to say that even though I don't really like guns I have always liked that sound." He said with a small smile. Spinning around in his seat he put a bullet right in between Sodom's eye's before tossing the gun into the air, standing up, catching the gun, and repeating his first shot left handed. He then clicked the safety back on and handed the gun back to Sarah. "Honey I'm no expert but I think your sights are off a little to the left." he said before retaking his seat.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Casey asked staring at Chuck in shock.

"Shooting is a skill you learn, the intersect stores memories. So I downloaded the skill into the Intersect in my head." Chuck said with a shrug.

"What?" Casey asked looking more confused then before.

"He figured out how to download skills into his brain. He shoots just like you can, he throws knives like I can. He has basic hand to hand combat skills, and he speaks three languages. Spanish, French, and Japanese." She said looking at Casey.

"Okay." Casey said with a scary smirk.

"Okay? That's all you're going to say is okay?" She asked him like he was crazy.

"What do you want me to say? I told you he had that look on his face didn't I? Say what you want about him but if he's got a plan then we come out on top." Casey said.

"And boy do I have a plan. It's dangerous, risky, and treasonous. And that's just Casey's part of the plan. Sarah's part is even more dangerous, risky, and very treasonous. But I have the biggest part to play. My part is scary, dangerous, hugely risky, and so treasonous that I'm not even sure I can do it. But if we pull this off it's going to earn us so much clout that we can pretty much do what ever the hell we want. Go anywhere, do anything, with an unlimited line of credit, and a pick of the best agents in the world to recruit to the team. Casey what's the biggest threat to this country?" Chuck asked with a huge smirk.

"Fulcrum?" Casey half asked, half declared.

"I plan to take down a good portion of those ass hats before this is all over, no who's next on the list?" Chuck asked.

"Volkoff Industries. They supply weapons to most of the worlds terrorist groups." Casey said.

"Okay that's who we'll go after once we round up the rest of the riffraff left behind of Fulcrum. What do you need to take them down Casey? Agents? Pick any ten agents in the world. You need guns? We'll be so heavily armed we wont be able to move. You want a tank? Consider it yours. You were a team leader before Casey, how much red tape did you have to wade through just to go on missions you were assigned to? What if you could pick were we go next? Iran? North Korea? Columbia? You once told me it was every agents dream to be deep cover, and fighting the good fight. What if I can get you anywhere in the world? Casey, how would you like to walk into a cave in Afghanistan and walk out with Osama?" Chuck asked with such conviction that he was making Sarah hot again. If he didn't know better he would think Casey was a little hot right now too.

"What do I have to do?" Was all Casey asked.

"Well you don't have to do much. Like I said, you just have to play for our team while you convince General Beckman that you still work for her. No, I'm going to do most the heavy lifting this time." Chuck said with a sad smile.

"Chuck what am I going to do?" Sarah asked.

"You are going to use your contacts on the secret service to get a meeting with the President. Then your going to convince him that funding and supplying this dream team is in his best interest." Chuck said with a shrug.

"Chuck, what are you going to do?" She asked him. When he smiled that sad smile she knew she was not going to like his answer.

"Well, Sarah, I'm going to join Fulcrum, steal there Intersect, become a supper spy, then take out the whole operation from the top down." Chuck said.

"How the hell are you going to do that Bartowski?" Casey asked.

"I'm not, agent Charles Carmichael is going to." He said with a laugh. "Have either of you read my file? It reads like yours Sarah. If you take away everything you know about me. Put Chuck out of your mind for a second. Put the girly screams, and the awkward nerd moments out of your head. Think about what the file says. Agent Charles Carmichael has, since he was activated last year, taken down an arms dealer, an assassin, and numerous Fulcrum agents. He has flipped China's top spy. He flew a helicopter. Disabled two bombs. And he works with two of the worlds best spies. Agent Carmichael is a super spy. Now we all know what really happened on those missions, but Fulcrum doesn't. To them I'm just like you two. Now if I was to say on tape that I'm tired of the CIA. Then run from here and get caught by Casey. Taken to an underground bunker, and meet a Fulcrum agent. What would they give me? What if I have a degree in computer engineering? What if I said I could fix they're Intersect? How fast do you think I could get a meeting with Fulcrum Command? Then I'm going to sell out Bryce Larkin. I'm going to tell them he's in Rome. But I'm going to wait two weeks at the earliest to do that. He'll be out of there by then. But it will cement my cover. Then I'm going to use their Intersect to upload every skill I can think of. After that I'll sabotage it, and get out of there. Think about it. What kind of damage could I do with the Intersect? I could flash on names, accounts, files, and locations. We will know everything! Then we can just round them up. By the time I'm gone I hope you guys can gather a force to run down the information. Once we hit them on the west coast, we can use the things we learn form interrogations to move in on the east coast. After that we will have so much power we can have everything we want. We'll have the presidents ear." Chuck said with a laugh.

Casey looked at Chuck for a minute before he smiled. "If you told me this last week I would have laughed it off. But I'll make you a deal. If after I test your skills. And I find you're up to this, than I'm all in with you. I'm damn proud of you Chuck. You had a plan, you took the initiative, and you acquired the skills needed to pull it off." Casey said with a nod.

"Sarah. You've been very quite. Do you have anything to add, or say?" Chuck asked.

"All I can say is wow. I'm with Casey on this one. I just want you to know that I'm going to be testing you very hard. I will not let you do this if I think you're not up to it. This is not a mission like your used to Chuck. We will not be there to back you up. You will be on your own, behind enemy lines, and asked to do things you will not feel comfortable doing. I want you to go over all of my mission files. I want you to re-flash on them. Casey. Give him your code number. I want you to flash on his file too. We have a combined thirty pulse years in the field. I want you to study them." She said looking him in the eyes.

"I will. I will come back to you, Sarah. I will. But we need this. We need this win to cement our future." Chuck words had a core of steal and Sarah once again looked at him in a new light.


	4. Chapter 4

THE BAD INTERSECT:

Over the next seven days the team prepared for the mission. The first day Sarah and Casey put him through a vigorous sparing match to test his hand to hand skills. He ended up doing very good but Casey did have a point.

"The problem is you have all this skill but almost no muscle mass. You can throw punches all day but if we don't build you up a bit you have almost no power behind them. It doesn't mater if you can punch someone if you cant put them down." Chuck could see the logic behind that and later asked the Captain for some exercises he could do with out work out gear that would bulk him up.

The next day Casey took him to the range and had him fire a huge range of guns. From Glocks and Sigs to M4s and Aks. With each of them he hit the target with an accuracy that freaked them both out. At the end of the day Casey laid out all of the hand guns he brought with him on the table. "This is an important moment in every spy's training Chuck. It's a Rite of passage. I hold very few rituals sacred Chuck, but this is one of then. All of these guns are clean. They have never been out in the field before. They have yet to spill a drop of blood. I want you to look them all over. Take them back to the range if you want, hold them whatever you want, but when we walk out of here you will have a gun. And it will taste blood. This is a rite of passage that we all go through. NSA, CIA, MI-6, everyone." Casey said with a gravity that reminded Chuck of church. He knew that this was serious.

"Can I ask you a few questions?" Chuck asked in the same tone of voice.

"Yes." Was all Casey said but Chuck saw the approval on his face. Chuck knew it was because he was treating this whole thing with the same level of respect Casey had.

"Is this going to be my gun for life. Can I change later?" Chuck asked.

"It depends on the agent. I have over the years but that had a lot to do with practicality. I used to carry a Browning high power. But they're getting a little hard to come by these days so I changed. You see as agents, we constantly lose our guns, or we leave them in foreign counties, or some bad guy takes them. So the gun you pick today is not the gun your going to use for the rest of your life. It's more of a symbol. This is your gun. You may have noticed Walker uses a nickel plated Smith and Wesson. And I use the Sig 229 elite. That is my gun just like the gun you pick today is your gun. We'll stock ten of them in castle. Along with a few at the Buy More and a few around your house. A good agent is never more then thirty feet form their gun." Casey said.

"Casey the gun I pick today. Do I ever have to use it?" Chuck asked as he ran his hands over the guns on the table.

"What do you mean Chuck?" Casey asked in a tone that told Chuck he was close to saying something that would tarnish the ritual.

"What I mean is do I have to take this gun on a mission or can I frame it or something? It seams to me that this weapon should be treated with a little bit more respect then to be taken on a mission and left in some third world country. If this gun is a symbol then it should be treated as such. If there is going to be ten copies in castle then I can take this gun and put it away. Put it somewhere safe." Chuck said as he picked up a berretta px4 and ran his thumb over the slide.

"Thank god that's what you meant. I thought you were saying you didn't plan on using a gun all together." Casey said.

"No, I've been in this business long enough to know that we deal with some very bad people. People that shoot at you. If I want to live in this world then I have to learn to shoot back. No I've made my peace with the fact that I'm going to have to shoot someone at some point. I know that I'm not looking forward to it. Nor am I looking forward to how Sarah will react to it. But I've made my peace with it. It's not like I'm going out and shooting innocents. These people are evil, scumbags. That's not to say I wont puke my guts up the first time I do it." Chuck said with a small smile and he was surprised to see it returned by Casey.

"I know what you mean. The first time is always the hardest. I know I tossed my cookies the first time I did it." Casey said with a sad smile. Was he sad for himself, or for Chuck? Chuck would never know because he knew that was one question that would not be welcomed here. "To go back to your previous question. Again everyone is different. I know some people take their first piece on their first mission with them. Sort of like a second rite of passage. Other people keep their first gun locked away and get buried with it. Everyone is different." Casey said.

Chuck put the colt .45 commander he was looking at down and picked up a USP compact. "Do you mind if I ask what you did with your first gun?" Chuck asked as he dropped the mag from the USP and racked the action a few times before he set it back down.

"No, it's okay to ask. I still have mine. Sure I've taken it out on missions before but I always bring it back. I used it to shoot your buddy Bryce Larkin as a matter of fact." Casey said with a small ironic laugh.

But Chuck didn't laugh. He knew that moment belonged to Casey. It was his and not Chuck's. It was not a part of this rite. It was just an old spy telling war stories. Nothing more, noting less. But it did get him thinking about what kind of war stories he would tell one day. Would he be standing on the other side this table one day? Would he be looking at a young agent as he stared overwhelmed at a table full of guns? Would he tell him about the first time he killed someone? Would he laugh about shooting someone. Would the young agent understand that he was not supposed to laugh with his mentor?

That's when he saw it. Sig 229. Black frame and chrome slide. Chuck picked it up and saw the look of pride on Casey's face. He ejected the mag and racked the slide. It was crisp. Solid. It was a lot like Casey in that way. He walked over to the rang and methodically inserted fifteen rounds into the mag and slammed it home. Even fully loaded the gun was still light in his hands. The grip fit good in his long skinny fingers. Chuck chambered a round and looked down the sights. There was a paper target down range that he didn't remember pitting there. Then he remember Casey putting it there before he laid out the guns. Another job for the mentor. Because he was so occupied with the guns he forgot to set up a target. Did he know it would happen that way? Chuck was sure Casey did. Did Casey forget to set up a target during his rite of passage? Did his mentor do this for him? Chuck took aim but the target was to blurry. Why was it blurry? A tear escaped form his eye, and Chuck had to put the gun down.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay son. Just breath. It happens sometimes. It happened to me too. It just means you understand the meaning behind this. It's not about the gun. It's about the person who taught to how to use it. I didn't think it would happen today because I didn't teach you. You taught yourself. But I want you to know how proud of you I am right now son. So damn proud. When we first started this team I didn't think you would last a week in the field. But you proved me wrong. Then I didn't think you would last a year with out cracking under the pressure, and again you proved me wrong. But there was one thing I knew, we were never going to be standing here. And Son you proved me wrong again. Some people chose this life, like me. Some people get chosen for this life, like Walker. But I have never seen a man be thrown into this life. Then not only thrive in it but make the choice too." Chuck heard the heaviness in Casey's voice but he did not turn around. He knew this was another part of the rite. This was the mentor laying it out for the rooky. That's when he knew it was okay to let the tears out. Because it was all a part of the rite.

"Casey. I would… be honored to carry this gun. As a symbol of the agent I want to be. And of the man who not only taught me how to use it over the past year and half. He taught me respect for this life. For the sacrifices it requires, and deduction it takes. I am proud to carry it. Very proud." Chuck said in a voice thick by tears.

"Do you respect the fact that you hold the power to take a life in your hands?" Casey asked.

"I do." the words came out of his mouth with out even thinking about them.

"Do you swear to never use that power to take an innocent life?" Casey asked

"I do."

"Do understand that if you take an innocent life you will die by that power?" Casey asked with a hard edge to his voice.

"I do."

"Do you understand the need to train young agents about the power they will one day weald?" Casey asked.

"I do."

"Do you swear to continue this ritual. This rite of passage?" Casey asked with a smile on voice.

"I do." And Chuck did. He knew that Casey did too. He understood the smile on his voice. He himself had already been thinking about the day he would be standing on the other side of the table.

"Do you understand the meaning of the ritual, and of spilling your own blood on this weapon?" Casey asked. "It's okay if you don't understand. You can tell me." Casey added.

"I do understand the ritual, but do I bleed on the weapon to show that I am prepared to spill my own blood in service?" Chuck asked.

"Partially. It has to do with the power to take an innocent life. We spill our blood, the blood of an innocent, on the weapon as a symbol of the last innocent blood this weapon will ever see. May your blood be the only innocent blood this weapon ever touches. Do you understand?" Casey asked as he held out a small knife to Chuck.

Chuck took the knife and pricked a small hole in the pad of his thumb and ran it over the slide of his new gun. "I do." Chuck said holding out his gun for Casey to see.

"Very good Son. Very good. Now safety that weapon and put it away. We have to clean up the range before Walker gets here and shares some of her lady feelings." Casey said placing both of his hands on Chuck's shoulders before taking them away.

Chuck spent the next hour wiping down the huge table of guns and putting them away. As they were finishing up Sarah came into the range. She walked up to Casey and held out her hand. Casey took it and shook it with out a word. She then approached Chuck. "So what did you pick?" She asked with a sad smile.

Chuck pulled his gun from his waist band at his back. And ejected the mag and racked the slide before handing it to her. "Sig 229. Black frame, and chrome slide." He said without taking his eyes off the gun. She ran her fingers over the slide touching the blood stain before handing it back to him.

"A good choice. I'm proud of you Chuck, you picked Casey's gun. You understand the point of the rite. I remember every one of them. But nothing is as powerful as your own. I still remember my own. It was at Langley. My instructor was this old agent named Raymond. He taught me how to hold my first gun. I remember crying so hard I could barley say the words. A lot of people talk about graduating from the Farm, but in my opinion after the rite you are an agent. Was it powerful for you Chuck?" She asked with an encouraging smile.

"Yes, very. I never really knew how much I looked up to Casey until I picked up that gun. It just clicked into place for me at that moment. I tried to shot it down range and I couldn't see through the tears in my eyes. I just want you to know I tried your gun but didn't feel right for me. I want you to know I in no way ment to pick Casey's gun over your's." Chuck said.

"Chuck. I know. It's okay. I understand. I know it has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with the fact that Casey is a positive male figure in your life. Of the two of use you can't go wrong. We are both highly decorated agents, and Casey is the best partner I've ever had. There is one thing about Casey that I want you to absolutely mold your self on. And that's reliability. I have never worked with someone that said they were going to be there to back you up and always turned up where you needed him. That reliability is something I can depend on and I want you to be an agent with that kind of reliability." she said as she pulled him into a hug.

"Sarah, how do you keep your gun form falling down your pants?" Chuch asked.

"Did you drop your gun Chuck?" she asked with a smirk.

"No I have not! I would never drop my gun!" Chuck said with a lot of indignation. Most of it fake, but he was struck by the fact that some of it was not fake. He would never disrespect his gun by dropping it. "I just don't want to drop it and I can feel it moving around back there." Chuck said.

Sarah instantly knew she messed up. The rite had been very emotional for him, it was not a good idea to mess with that. "Do you want to carry it in your back like I do, or do you want to carry up front like Casey?" she asked him as she adjusted his belt.

"In the back I think. I am way to accident prone to have it anywhere near my junk." Chuck said.

"Well rule number one for carrying at the back. Always ware a long shirt. Second constantly readjust. I check my gun about twenty times a day. You don't have to pull it out. Just touch it to fix the placement. And lastly if you have a pair of slacks that are really too big for you, or something flimsy like jogging pants all you have to do is sew in a little loop the size of your gun slide in your pants and it will keep it from falling in." she said as she copped a feel of his butt as she put his gun away.

Two days later Chuck and Sarah spent most of the day meeting seedy contacts in back allies. They also hopped a flight to Phoenix Arizona to go to a bank. Well Sarah went into the bank and Chuck stayed outside. She came back a few minutes later with a duffle bag full of money. "Sarah, I know we need money, but I don't think it's right to use your money. It's not right that you're footing the bill for this." Chuck said looking out the window of the plane on the way back home.

"Chuck, you know how much I make. You know how many missions I've been on. You also know I don't have a home. I live out of hotel rooms paid for by the CIA. Do you even know how much I have sitting in banks just like that one. Chuck you said it yourself. We are going be married soon. What's mine is yours and what's your is mine." she said softly.

"Yeah, but what do I really have to give you? I'm broke. I live with my sister. I drive a Nerd Herder. I'm not cool. I'm not a badass. I'm nobody." He said without looking at her.

"Hey! You don't get to say things like that about the man I love!" She said as she grabed his shoulder and spun him around in his seat. She took hold of his head and kissed him so hard he almost blacked out. "You don't say that ever. You give me something way more important then money, or a car or any of those stupid things you mentioned. Chuck you give me a home. Not a physical place, but an emotional place. A place I can be just Sarah. Not agent Walker. Chuck you have no idea how much that means to me. I would empty all of my accounts for that. I love you Chuck. And I know you love me. Is it really that big of a deal that I have some money saved up?" She asked as she buried her head into his chest and hugged him close.

"I guess, its just that I know your marrying down, and I know that I don't have much if anything to give you." Chuck said softy.

"I know that's what you think, but it's so not true." She said with a sigh as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah, but lets face it. No one thinks we're together. Look around people look shocked that a woman like you would even be looking at a guy like me, let alone sitting like we are. The only scenario they can come up with is, I'm rich. I have to be to be sitting with a woman that looks like you. And the sad fact that you're rich too. I don't know? I feel stupid about it but I just…?" Chuck didn't know what to say.

"I think I understand. You don't get it do you?" she asked with a smirk.

"Get what?" he asked.

"I have watched the video feed of the nerd herd desk. I've seen the women come in every day and flirt with you. And you flirt right back. And the thing you don't understand is that you're cute. Your charming and cute and funny. You're a lot like I was a long time ago. I didn't always look like this. You saw what I looked like in high school. I was a mess. At least you're cute. With a hair cut, some new clothes and with a little training you could be just like me. But You're not, you're my Chuck." She said softly.

"What did you say?" Chuck said as he sat up fast in his seat.

"You're my Chuck?" She asked confused.

"No, before that. You said with a hair cut, new clothes, and some training I could be you. Sarah you're a genius!" he said as he pulled out a small note book and started writing things down.

"Chuck, what are you talking about?" She asked trying to look over his shoulder to see what he was writing.

"I've been going at this all wrong. All wrong. I don't need to be John Casey, I need to be Sarah Walker. I am looking at this from the wrong way. Crap! Crap!. I should have thought of this." He mumbled with out looking away from what he was writing down.

"Chuck, you're starting to scar me now. What are you talking about?" She asked pulling his face around to look at her.

"I want you to be dead honest with me Sarah." Chuck said spinning in his seat to look her in the eye.

"Okay Chuck." She said.

"How much training would it take to make me your equal?" Chuck asked.

"What are you talking about Chuck?" She asked.

"You said a hair cut, new clothes, and some training I could be you. How much training. How much training would it take to make me your equal. Okay so not your equal. But what about say Bryce. How much work would it take to make me as charming, and debonair as him. How much time?" He asked with a far away look in his eyes.

"I don't know? It took me two months to learn all the seduction tricks I know, and another month to learn how to dress. Why Chuck? Why do you want to know?" She asked confused.

"I've been going at this the wrong way. Sarah what's the first thing they are going to try to do to get me back to work? Casey said they would assign me a new handler. What do you think her mission is going to be? Sarah. What if I could get a Fulcrum handler? You said I'm charming, but do you think I could do what you do? String her along until she helps me get to Fulcrum. What if I could flip her? It would give me an inside man. Back up if things went bad." He said still looking deep in thought.

"I don't know Chuck? Could you do that? I mean. Your cute, and sweet. You're a good person Chuck. Could you string a woman along? Use her like that? Remember what I told you about doing things that you felt uncomfortable? This would be more then that. Could you do that? I don't know? I can make you look like an agent. I can make you look the part very easy. But I don't think you can Seduce a trained agent. I'm sorry Chuck." She said with a sad smile.

"It's okay. I understand Sarah. It was just a thought." He said before looping his arm around her back and pulling her into him, his smile shifted and he sat up taller in his seat. "I know I'm not good at this stuff. But I just wanted to find a way to get out of this alive. I want to get back to you. I want to make this work so we can be together." he said softly as he kissed her. They were soft kisses. Just barley a brush of his lips on her cheek and neck. "I love you Sarah. I want to be with you. I want to worship you. I didn't want to go to your hotel room the other day because two hours is not enough time. It's not even close. I plan on spending at lest an hour kissing every inch of your amazing body. Then I'm going to worship you with my tongue until you can't take it any more. You told me you had a year of pent up sexual frustration. I plan on making it up to you. I think I owe you at lest 100." Chuck wisped in a tone he knew worked her up.

"100?" She asked in a flushed whisper.

"Two for every night we should have been together since that night we wish we could take back. At lest two. And it's something I can start working on as soon as you want. It would be my absolute pleasure to worship you Sarah. In fact why don't I start right now?" He whispered as before he ran the tip of his tongue up her neck and placed a kiss on her jaw line under her ear.

Sarah moaned with need before standing up and pulling Chuck with her. "Bathroom now!" she growled.

"Okay." Chuck said smirking. Taking her hand, he lead her to the bathroom. Once they were in, and the door locked Chuck grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her hard. He let his other hand slide up her shirt and under her bra. She moaned into his mouth when his hand made contact with her left breast. He pushed her into the sink and lifted her up to sit on the counter. He pulled away from her and she made a sad little moan with the back of her throat. "Lift your arms." Chuck commanded and she felt a heat run through her body. He pulled her shirt over her head and put it on the coat hook. He then went back to kissing her. He trailed his hands down her neck and unhooked her bra. He slowly slipped it off her shoulder as he kissed down her neck and over her collarbone. He kept moving down her chest until he got to the valley between her breasts. He looked up into her eyes before he took her right nipple between his lips and sucked hard as he brushed the little nub with his rough tongue.

"Oh Chuck!" She moaned out grabbing two fistfuls of his hair and shoving his face closer to her chest.

But Chuck pulled back and crossed to her left nipple. As he sucked he grazed it with he teeth and she shuddered, he ran his right hand up her bare leg and up her skirt stopping just before he reached her panties. He brushed his hand over her thigh a few times. "Chuck please, I need you." she said letting go of his head to reach for his belt. but he stopped her hand.

"No." he said before dropping to he knees and lifting her skirt. "This is not about me. I owe you so much. I want to pay off me debt, and I want to taste you Sarah. I have for the longest time." he said between planting kisses up her right leg. "I bet you taste sweet." he said smirking as he lifted her skirt. "I want to find out." he said as he scooped his right hand under her ass and lifted her off the counter as he pulled her black panties down with his left. He looked down and his smile became wolfish. "I've thought about this day for a long time now. I want to know what you look like when you cum Sarah." he said before running his tongue up her thigh and over her sex. She let out a gasp and clinched her abs. she reached out and took his hair in her hands again and pushed his head lower. He ran his tongue over her lips and parted them with his nose. She had to stuff her hand in her mouth to stop the scream from escaping. He found her pink pearl and kissed it softly before running his tongue over it. She shook and locked her thighs around his head. He ran his tongue over her clit two more times before grazing it with his teeth. That sent her over the edge. Even with her hand covering her mouth the scream still came out a little bit. As she was coming down Chuck took her clit between his lips and sucked as hard as he could and put her over the edge again. This time her whole body jerked causing her thighs to flex. He counted to ten before inserting a finger and sucked again. This time she came so hard she blacked out for a split second. "Chuck, please. I need you inside me now!" she moaned.

"No. I refuse to let our first time be in this bathroom." he said as he kissed the inside of her thigh. "You taste better then I dreamed. I can stay down her all day." He said.

"No more. Please. I'm too sensitive." She sobbed out as she pushed his head away.

"But I want to do it again. You look so hot when you cum." he said with a wolfish smile. Before his starting planting kisses on her inside thighs. "Please let me make you cum again?" he asked in a deep primal whisper. That made her sex quiver.

"God. No. I can't." she said shaking.

"But I want to taste you again." he growled. Before he blew on her red raw sex, causing her body to shiver. He bit the inside of her thigh and rubbed his thumb over her pearl making her gasp. "Please?" he asked before he fluttered his tongue over her pearl setting her off again. This time she did black out. When she came to Chuck was pulling her shirt over her head. When he saw her eyes open he leaned in and whispered. "96 left. I hope you let me pay off some more of my debt very soon." before he kissed her neck.

"OH MY GOD! Where did you learn to do that?" She panted as she let him help her stand up. Her legs felt like Jello. Her abs were still clinched and her sex was still throbbing. "I never came so hard in my life." She said with a note of awe in her voice.

"When your not cool, or good looking like me, you have to try harder to find a girl, and then you have to work hard to keep her. I did a lot of research. Books, magazines, the internet?" He said with a shrug as he helped her straighten out her clothes.

"Jill left you for Bryce and you could do all of that?" She asked him in shock.

"I guess?" He said with an embarrassed shrug Carmichael gave him the thumbs up and Chuck smiled.

"What the hell was she thinking? In fact I may never let you out of the bedroom from now on." She said in awe.

"I can do a lot more then that. I've studied very hard. I like being a good lover. I'm sorry if I got a little out of control back there. It's been a while since I practiced. I'm a bit rusty. I promise to do better next time." Chuck said as the blush crept up his neck.

"Chuck if you do any better I might die. I've never blacked out like that. It was incredible." she said as he helped her to her seat.

"I know so much more then that. What I did in there was nothing. If I had more time I could have made it last longer, but this is the first time I did that on an airplane and I was scared someone was going to hear us, or walk in. I can do better." He said with a shy smile.

"Marry me now! I want that every night." She said panting. He knew more? What kind of sex God was he. She couldn't wait to see what he was like in bed for real. Wow it was going to be good. He was better then any agent she had ever been with. He was even better then Carina. And she was sure no one was as good as her, but God was she wrong. Chuck was the best lover she had ever been with and they still hadn't even had sex yet.

"Okay. But did I make my point? Did I prove to you that I could seduce the Fulcrum agent?" He asked. Then it hit her. She didn't know how to feel at that moment. He had worked her over like some mark and she didn't even know it. She was mad. No she was furious. No way in hell did Chuck, sweet, innocent, Chuck work her over like a mark. Her professional pride refused to admit it.

"You just worked me like a mark?" She asked in a deadly cold tone.

"Yes and no. I really wanted to do that. I have for a long time now. But yes I did work you I guess. I guess the question is: is what I just did, getting you hot and then get you off, really count as working you over? I mean the only thing I got out of the deal was to confirm two things. One, you look absolutely breath taking when cum. And two, I think I'm addicted to the taste of you." He whispered in her ear.

Sarah shivered. Where was this coming form? Was he hiding this all along? Then she saw it. He was nervous. He was twitching, and fiddling with his hands. She knew what was going on. Chuck was embarrassed by his sexual side. He was good at it, but unlike other guys he didn't like to brag. He was still her Chuck, but this was a side he kept quit about. She bet he was doing all this to prove his point. She had to admit. Even if the confidence was fake. It was still very sexy. He could do it to her. But he knew her. He knew she liked it when he was confident. Could he seduce a random woman? Did she really want to know? She looked at his cute, shy smile and decided she did want to see if he had what it took. "Okay Chuck, seducing me is one thing. We both know I want you, but can you seduce a random girl?" she asked.

"I don't know? Until I meet you I was moping over Jill, and the two relationships I've had since were all initiated by them." Chuck said with a shrug.

"Okay. Lets see what you got." she said as she spun around in her seat to look at the other people on the plane. "You see that woman five rows back?" she asked pointing out a stunning redhead in her mid forties reading a small paper back book. "I want you to get her number." she said with a smirk.

"Okay?" Chuck said as he stood up and re-tucked his shirt in. He pulled his tie up and slipped his suit jacket on. He also let Carmichael out. Getting Sarah hot was one thing. Walking up to a random woman was another thing all together, He walked up the isle. As he approached her he looked at the book in her hands. It looked like one of those crappy vampire novels. So she was a sucker for romance. She was drinking red wine. So she was relaxed. That's when he saw it. She was wearing an Eiffel tower pin. With a confident smile Chuck walked past her and bumped her arm. "Oh, I'm sorry I bump into you. They make these planes so small don't they? Hi I'm Charles Carmichael. " he said with his most charming smile as he held out his hand.

"Yes they do. Vivian Redfield." she said as she took his hand.

"That's a very beautiful name, to match the very beautiful woman. I like your pin Vivian. Have you been to the Eiffel tower before?" he asked.

"No but it's always been a dream of mine." she said with a shy smile.

"Mine too, there's just something so romantic about Paris. It's like the city was made for falling in love. I always dreamed of falling in love in a little outdoor café in Paris. Under the rose colored lights we would catch each others eye as we sipped our red wine. It would be love at first sight. I even learned French, just in case that's all she spoke. One day I'll go. But then again love at first sight can happen anywhere. Tell me Vivian, are you single?" he asked with a charming smile, still holding her hand.

"Yes, I am." she said with a blush.

"Tell me Vivian, do you believe in love at first sight?" he asked softly.

"Yes." she said breathily.

"I was never total sure I believed in it, until now. Are you going to be in Burbank for awhile?" He asked.

"Sadly no. I'm only going to be there for the night. I fly out the next morning." She said with a sad look on her face.

"Two ships passing in the night. Destined for different ports. I hope you find romance someday Vivian." Chuck said in French, and Vivian blushed. Chuck turned around and took two steps before she called out his name when he turned around she was holding out a business card.

"If you ever want some company in that café under the rose colored lights give me a call." She said in French.

"Until next time." Chuck said before walking back to his seat, and handing the card to a misty eyed Sarah. "Did I pass?" He asked.

"Yes. You did. Was any of that true?" she asked with a sad smile.

"Some of it. How did you know?" he asked.

"Your shirt pocket." she said and Chuck pulled out a bug. "Okay lets start your after action report. How did you know any of that would work?" she asked.

"I saw the book and the wine, so I knew she was looking for romance. Then I saw the pin and I knew my in was Paris." Chuck said with a shrug.

"How do you feel? Any remorse? Any excitement?" she asked.

"A little remorse I think. I know agents aren't supposed to feel that way, but she wasn't really a mark. She was just a lonely woman looking for romance. I think I would feel differently if it was a mark." Chuck said.

"Good. I was afraid for a second that you were replaced by a pod person. You did good Chuck but I see some areas that can use improvements. Lets start with your approach." she said. They spent the rest of the flight talking about seduction.

The next day Chuck walked out of his room not dressed for work. Ellie was sitting by the table and noticed.

"Chuck are you taking the day off work?" she asked.

"Yeah actually I'm taking a trip with Sarah up the coast to Napa Valley. I'm taking your advice sis. We're going to see if we can work through the complications in our relationship." He said with a shrug.

"Chuck, that's great!" she said as she jumped up and hugged him.

"I have to tell you something Ellie. I might come back engaged. I know she's the one for me and I want to spend the rest of my life with her." Chuck said with a soft smile.

"OH MY GOD! Chuck that's wonderful. I'm so proud of you Sweetie. You picked a winner. I'm so happy." she said holding him close.

"One more thing before I forget. This is for you and Devon. It's from me and Sarah." he said handing her a big gift wrapped box. "Open it at the hospital when you're both together like at lunch time." he said. He hugged her again. "I love you sis. So much. I'm going to miss you." he said.

"It's just for a few days. And when you get back we'll throw a big party." she said pulling back from him. She looked him over before she adjusted his shirt collar. "Aces, Charles, Your Aces." She said with a teary smile. "Your all grown up now. A big boy. I wish mom and dad were here. To see you. To see us." she said wiping her face.

"So do I El, so do I. I'll see you as soon as I can. I love you." he said before he picked up a small duffle bag. And walked outside. Casey was there.

"Did you leave the watch and the cell phone?" he asked.

"Yes. I left them under my bed." Chuck said.

"Good, do you have your gun?" he asked.

"Yes. But I was wondering if you could hold this for me." Chuck said pulling out his first gun from his bag and handing it over to Casey. "I know you'll keep it safe for me. I didn't want to leave it in the house incase the NSA tossed the place and took it." He said with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'll keep it safe." Casey said.

"I'll see you in a week John. Until then. Good luck." Chuck said shaking Casey's hand, again like last time Casey pulled him in to a hug.

"Remember. If at any time this thing goes south. Call my number and I will be there with a full assault team. And take care of Walker." Casey said before he pushed Chuck towards the gate.

"I love you too big guy." Chuck said without looking back. He walked outside the gate to see Sarah waiting for him standing next to a 1970 black mustang Boss 429. she tossed him the keys. "Marry Christmas." she said and Chuck's smile almost split his face.

At lunch Ellie pulled Devon away into his empty office. "What's up babe? You look super excited." he asked as he sat down in his chair.

"Chuck and Sarah are headed up to Napa to work out there issues and get engaged!" she said super excited.

"That's Awesome babe! Good for them! What's in the big box?" He asked pointing at the gift.

"Chuck gave it to me, he said it was from him and Sarah." she said as she pulled the ribbon off and opened the top. Inside was a pile of clothes and a DVD that said play me in private first! So she handed it to Devon and he popped it in to his computer. When the video started it was of Chuck sitting on a green arm chair. "Ellie and Devon. If you are seeing this it means I've left for the mission and I need you to listen to everything I say and follow my instructions to the letter. El, for the past year and a half I've been working with Sarah and Casey on a joint CIA NSA taskforce. El I'm a spy. So are John and Sarah. I know you think this is a joke, but I'm being dead serious. The reason I'm telling you this now is because I'm going undercover to infiltrate a group named Fulcrum. I may not make it out of this alive. The mission I'm going on is not just dangerous for us, but it could be dangerous for you two as well. That's why I need you to do something for me. I need you two to take a vacation. I need you to leave as soon as this video ends and not come back until you get a phone call. Inside the box you will find these items: two sets of clothing one for each of you, two, ten thousand dollar bricks of money, two new sets of id's, two plane tickets to the Cayman islands, and a cell phone. I want you to put on the clothes, and take the rest of the stuff in the box with you, leave everything else behind. I want you to get into a cab and go straight to the airport. Your flight leaves at six. That should give you enough time to check in and board. When you get there we booked you into a resort. The brochure is in the box. I want you to take this DVD and smash it. Then take the broken pieces and toss then in two separate trash cans.

Hopefully the mission wont take too long. Use this time as sort of a pre-wedding honeymoon. Have fun. Soak up the sun. Devon I want you to keep her safe. If you run into trouble I want you to hit speed dial one on the cell phone. That will get you in touch with Casey, but I'm asking you to not use the phone unless you think it's a life or death situation. When the mission is over Casey will call you. On that phone. You are to turn it on every day at 6 PM for five minutes. If you don't get a call, shut it off again. The battery should last a long time but if it dose run out buy a replacement battery. The phone is a popular track phone model they sell it at most convenience stores." Chuck paused and looked off camera for a moment. When he looked back at the camera he had a sad little smile on his face. "Ellie. I love you. I will see you when this mission is over. But if I don't make it I want you to know how much you mean to me. Growing up you were my sister, my mother, and my father. Without you I would be nothing. I love you El. More then life it self. That's why I need you to do this for me. I can't concentrate on this mission unless I know you two are safe and being distracted is what get's you killed in my line of work. I know I just laid a huge guilt trip on you but it's the truth. I'll see you later Awesome, and Ellie. This message will self destruct in five seconds. 5...4...3...Just kidding! I always wanted to say that!" he then made a cut hand gesture and the screen went dead as he laughed.

"Babe what are we going to do? Chuck's in trouble. We need to help him…" Devon said as he paced his small office.

"We are going to do nothing! Now strip. We have to change and catch a flight." Ellie said as she shucked her scrubs.

"What!? You're just going along with this?" He asked.

"Yes Devon! Now strip! You heard Chuck. If he knows we're safe he has a better chance of making it back to us." She said as she pulled on the pair of jeans and white dress shirt before pulling out a fitted gray blazer. "Sarah must have picked this stuff out because it's really nice and it fits." she said running her hands over the soft wool of the blazer. She pulled out the finishing touches. A pair of comfortable black heels and a nice black purse. When she turned around Devon had stripped to his boxers.

"Toss me the clothes babe?" he asked. She handed him the pair of jeans, a blue button up shirt, and black leather motorcycle jacket. When she handed him a pair of black low top chucks they both let out a sad laugh. "So Chuck picked these out." he said taking the leather wallet with his new id's. "So this says I'm Devon Smith from now on." He said holding up the new drivers license.

"And I'm OOOH! I'm Eleanor Smith! Were married!" She said with a big smile.

"Chuck did say to treat this like a honeymoon. How dose the Cayman Islands sound to you Mrs. Smith?" He asked holding out his hand.

"Perfect. Mr. Smith." She said as they took the DVD and the two bricks of cash and tossed them in her purse with the cell phone and the brochure before they left.

Later that afternoon Casey checked in with Beckman. "General we have a big problem. The asset and agent Walker are AWAL. His watch and phone were under his bed, and Agent Walkers phone was sitting in her car parked outside of her hotel." He said.

"What?! Do we have any leads?" Beckman asked

"Well Ma'am I went back over the video feeds and I found this conversation." He said before playing the recording from this morning between Chuck and his sister.

"So they are going to Napa. I want you in charge of finding then. Report to Castle and coordinate the NSA strike team! I want them found!" She said.

"We might have an even bigger problem. I kept going back over the tapes and found this conversation between Walker and the asset. This took place outside his apartment last night after one of there cover dates," he said before playing a recording of them standing by the fountain.

Chuck was standing by the fountain with his shoulders slumped and a sad look on his face. "What's wrong Chuck? You look down." She asked him while rubbing neck.

"I'm tired Sarah. Tired of working two jobs for minimum wage. Tired of putting my life on the line for a General that treats me like a object and not a human being. But I'm totally tired of pretending that I'm not in love with you when that's the only thing in my life worth anything to me anymore." He said with a look of rage on his face.

"Chuck there's nothing we can do. This is our job. You know that." She said trying to calm him down.

"So your okay with the fact that the CIA treats us like crap." He asked spinning around to face her.

"Us Chuck?" She asked with surprise.

"Sarah, if the general ordered you to go have sex with a terrorist scumbag you would have to right?" he asked.

"Chuck you know I have to follow orders, its what I do, it's what all agents do Chuck. It doesn't mean that I want to. In fact I hate that kind of assignment. But Chuck it's not like I can say no. I'm a spy Chuck, it's the only thing I know." she said with tears falling down her cheeks.

"But what if you could pick your own assignment? What if we could control our own missions. What if we could be together, for real. No covers, no repercussions just you and me?" He asked holding her close.

"What are you talking about Chuck?"

"I'm talking about joining Fulcrum." He said with a sad look on his face.

"Chuck that's treason! You can't do that! Why would you even think about it?" She yelled in shock.

"Because if I keep working for the CIA I'm going to end up dead and my sister wont even know why. Because I want to be treated with respect, and not like a piece of military hardware. But most of all I want to be with you Sarah, and you know this is the only way that we can be together. Sarah I love you and I know you love me too." He said as she folded into his arms before sharing a heated kiss.

"You know how much I love you. But there is another way. We could run Chuck! We can just run away and never look back. We can change our names and move to a place that's always sunny. We can sit on the beach all day and be free to make love all night." She said before pulling him in for another desperate kiss.

"Where would we go? You once told me that there was no where I could run that you couldn't find me." He asked.

"Yes but that was just you. This is us Chuck. We could do it." She said with a smile.

"Okay but I would still like to talk to someone in fulcrum. I think they could protect us." he said before they kissed one last time.

"Major I'm assigning you ten agents and a strike team. I'm putting sanctions on both Walker and Bartowski. I want them dead or alive!" She yelled.

"If I can make a suggestion?" He asked. "Put the sanction on Carmichael instead of Bartowski. That way we can keep his cover. I think this is all Walkers fault Ma'am. Let me capture him and give him a new handler. I think with the right motivation. He could be operational again. The work we did in the past year and a half, the results we got are too good just to shut this team down. I think once we separate the two, and appoint him a new girlfriend, one that has less qualms about keeping him happy we can get back to doing good work." Casey said.

"That just might work. Okay Major we will try it your way first. Find them. You are dismissed." she said before she killed the signal.

Casey pulled out a Ziploc bag full of cheap cell phones and grabbed the one labeled 1 and hit the speed dial 1. Sarah picked up after the second ring. "Are we on?" was all she asked.

Casey could hear the nervousness in her voice. "Yes, we're on. She bought it just like he said she would. I tell you, when that kid has a plan. Tell him he did good. The fake lead will keep the NSA busy for a few days." Casey said with pride.

"I think it's sweat how much you love him." She said with a smirk.

Casey grunted and hung up. He then tossed the phone in the trash before going into the bag and pulling out phone 2. He clipped it to his belt and pulled out a cigar.

Sarah was laughing in the car. "What's so funny?" Asked Chuck as they drove passed the welcome to Las Vegas sign.

"I was messing with Casey. He said he was proud of you, so I told him it was sweat how much he loves you." She said as she tossed the phone out the window.

"Can I assume by your giddiness that everything is going good?" He asked with a smile.

"Yes. The General bought the story of us running away together. Casey is staring the search in Napa. Good thinking by the way. With that fake lead Casey can keep them off our backs for a few days." She said hugging his arm.

"So we have a few days before he needs to come after us, what should we do?" Chuck asked with a wolfish smile.

"I don't know but seeing as we're in the party capital of the world why not stay a few days?" she asked with a sexy smile of her own.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I know Casey is acting OOC right now but I'm moving his character arch forwards a few years. This is more like Casey from the last season. I like that Casey better. He's all the toughness of Jayne Cobb and all of the warmth of a good father figure.

GREEN WEDDING:

Casey got to the Orange-Orange and shook his head. Say what you will about the CIA but at least they knew how to be subtle. Sitting outside of the yogurt shop were six black SUVs. As soon as he got out of his black Suburban agents started pouring out of the other SUVs, and standing at attention in two rows of ten. Casey shook his head and opened the yogurt shop door. "Get in the damn store before the neighbors think they're being invaded, and for Christ's sake take off the Fucking Sun Glasses! It's almost pitch black out here!" he said before walking to the freezer and opening up Castle.

"Gather round the big screen! Can every one see?" He asked when they all filed in. "Good. The two agents we are chasing are world class. I should know they're my teammates." he said putting Chuck and Sarah's pictures up on the screen. "The nerdy looking guy is agent Charles Carmichael of the CIA. He's more asset then agent. He's a genius at problem solving, and data analysis. He's the brain of the team. He has a photographic memory. He processes mission files like a computer, and he never forgets things. But don't let him fool you, he's very deceptive. He likes to play nerdy and weak, but that's the last thing he is. He's very good at thinking on his feet, and quick to pull the trigger. I like to call him Mad Dog." Casey said trying to keep from smiling. He planed on showing Chuck and Sarah the tape of this. He turned and smiled at one of the cameras.

"The blond is Sarah Walker of the CIA. And before any of you ask, yes she is that Sarah Walker. The woman has been on more missions in the last eight years then most of you put together! Her reputation is legendary and I can say the stories don't hold a candle to the real thing. She's an artist with small arms and edged weapons. She's a master of field craft, and subtly. Three words I see you people don't know. You all stick out like a sore thumb!" Casey said pointing at the group of agents.

"I want all of you tactical guys to lose the black DBU's. You look ridicules! We're not invading a country, we're tracking down two highly skilled agents on the run. Agents lose the ties and shades you look just as bad as the tactical guys. I want all of you to read their files. They have a ten hour head start, but they don't know that. They are going to run as far and as fast as they can. The only lead we have is they might be heading north to Napa. We have two advantages over them. The first is they think they're in love with each other so they won't split up. If they did we would never catch them both. Well definitely not Walker. The second is Carmichael might be a good spy but he's arrogant. He will slip up, and when he does we will get them both. If we catch him and she's not with him it's a lost cause as far as I'm concerned. We are to capture them, not kill them. Am I clear on that? If we start shooting they will return fire and some of you will not make it out alive. We do not have the man power to start shooting at them. Now go change. I want to be on the road in a half hour. Who's going to be his new handler?" he asked and a female agent in the back stepped up to him.

She stood about 5'8" but her high heel put her just over the 6 foot mark. She had green eyes and full red lips. Her deep red hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She had a long graceful neck, and a full chest. He didn't know about size but he knew she was big, even bigger then Walker, and she didn't mind letting the world know. Her shirt was about three sizes too small and the top three buttons were left open, reveling a huge valley of cleavage. She had long sculpted legs that started at her dainty feet and just kept going until they disappeared under her vary short skirt. Casey took one look at her and felt his pulse quicken. She was sex on two very long legs and she was making his pants uncomfortably tight. He was starting to lose faith in Chuck's plan to seduce his new handler.

"Rank and name?" he asked.

"Captain Melissa Barns, sir. What can you tell me about the mark?" she asked with a vapid smile. Casey resisted the urge to face palm. Not only was Chuck going to out smart her he was going to lose his temper before the week was out. Chuck was a very patient man but he would absolutely hate her. She had just heard the briefing he just gave and the first thing she did was call him a mark. Casey was sure it would be easy to get rid of her. Chuck wanted a Fulcrum agent anyways. But that didn't mean she couldn't be used to cut his teeth on. The boy would need some practice. He was going to enjoy Chuck making her look stupid.

"First of all his name is Charles Carmichael. You call him a mark and he will make you pay for it. Second don't talk too much. Your vapid voice is grating. Chuck is a very smart man. He will know what your doing. Don't try to play him. He's too smart for that. Do you wear contacts?" he asked.

"Yes sir. I do. Is that a problem?" She asked I a hurt voice.

"Yes, wear your glasses. It will make you look smarter. Also read his file. Get to know his accomplishments. Get to know the man's work. Respect is going to be your best bet. He knows the score, he knows your tricks. Respect the fact that he is ten times the agent you are and maybe he won't get you reassigned or demoted." Casey said and he kind of felt sorry for her. She was obviously green. She was lucky it was Chuck and not Mad Dog Carmichael. He handed her Chuck's file and walked away.

Chuck and Sarah checked into the MGM Grand and spent the next three days in bed. Sarah put him through his paces. She wanted to make up for the last year and a half. Chuck, for his part, kept up with her and he got the number down from 96 to 75.

On the third night Sarah wanted to check his progress so she set up a test for him. Chuck walked into the small jazz bar and scanned the room. Their she was. Sitting at the bar in a little black dress was Sarah. She had on a red wig, a big smile, and she was sipping something green out of a martini glass. Chuck walked up to the bar and took the seat two over from her. He ordered a black label on the rocks and watched her out of the corner of his eye. He sipped his drink slowly over the next half hour and studied the three men that hit on her with a calculating eye. She was playing a part and it was Chucks job to figure out who she was, what she liked, and how to get her back to the room. It was her job to be as hard to read as she could be. The whole point was to see if he could pick up the subtle hints. The small clues that would help him work his mark over.

Sarah looked down at her small gold watch and started to get worried. What was taking him so long. She was board with all of the men hitting on her and she just wanted to go back up to the room at this point. She saw Chuck talking to the bartender and she was hoping he was about to make his move or she was going to get really pissed off and walk out of here. Getting hit on by balding business men in town for a convention was not her idea of a fun night. She saw Chuck get up from his seat and walk to the bathroom and she narrowed her eyes. He was going to pay for this.

Chuck wave the bar tender over. "Hit me again." Chuck said placing a hundred dollar bill on the bar. As the bartender poured his drink Chuck looked around the bar. "How many other conventions are in town?" Chuck asked.

"A few. That table over there is here for the textile convention. Those five guys are here for the tech convention. And the lady at the bar is here for the furniture convention. Something about cabinets I think. Real boring. How about you?" He asked.

Chuck clocked one of the men from the tech group make his way to the bathroom. "The tech convention. Bring me what ever the lady is drinking and hold my seat will you? I got to take a leak." Chuck said walking away. Chuck walked into the bathroom and nodded to the attendant. He walked up to the tech guy washing his hands. "Hi, I'm chuck." He said holding out his hand.

"Richard. HP design." He said shaking Chuck's hand.

"Richard, I was wondering if you could help me out. I'm here for the furniture convention and I've been wanting to hit on the hot red head at the bar all night but I don't want her to know who I am. We work for competing companies and I don't need my boss finding out I fucked the sales rep, from Simmons." Chuck said smirking.

"How can I help you?" The guy asked looking confused.

"Sell me your name tag and a few business cards." Chuck said.

"I can't do that my boss will be up my ass if I show up tomorrow with out my name tag." Richard said.

"How about if I paid you three hundred dollars for it and I left it with the bar tender when I left?" Chuck said holding out three Ben Franklins.

Richard looked torn. "You'll leave it with the bar tender?" he asked unpinning his nametag.

"You have my word." he said holding out his hand.

"Okay." Richard said handing the nametag over along with three cards.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Chuck said going over to the sink he took a mint. Popped it in his mouth. Spread the candy wrapper out on the sink. Took the baby powder and sprinkled some on the wrapper. He dropped a few drops of water on the powered and mixed it into a paste with his right pinky finger. He spread the paste on his left ring finger and waved his hand around until it dried. Then he hit it with some hair spray. He ran his hands under the tap and carefully dried them. At the attendants raised eyebrow he showed him his hand. It looked like a tan line from a wedding band. He handed the attendant and hundred dollar bill and winked. "Our little secret.

"Right you are Mr. Colson." The attendant said nodding at the tag.

Chuck walked back to his seat and saw Sarah looking mad. He smirked. Sometimes hunting is all about waiting for the right time to take your shot. He said to himself. He picked up the two drinks and nodded to the bar tender. Walking up to her he saw her watch him in the mirror behind the bar. Catching her eyes he winked at her reflection and she turned to him. He set the drinks down at the bar and handed her a card. "Richard Colson, HP Design." He said with a charming smile. She took the card and stuck it in the drink he put in front of her.

"Not interested." She said rolling her eyes and standing up.

"Really? Because you've been watching me for the last hour." He said with a smirk.

"What makes you say that?" She asked.

"Please. Sarah. Are we really going to play this game. We both know what's happening here. Red wig. Tan line on your ring finger. Little black dress. Why don't we just skip over the part where you tell me I'm wrong and lets go right to the part where you tell me you've never done this before. Cheated on the loser of a husband you have at home." Chuck said confidently.

"How dare you think you can know me." She said.

"I know you because I'm in the same boat." He said holing up his hand to show off the tan line. "We don't have to make this a big deal. You're looking to get fucked, and I'm looking for someone to fuck." Chuck whispered into her ear as he ran the back of his hand over her thigh.

She shuddered and glared at him. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said shyly as she fell in to the submissive role by instinct at the touch of his hand.

"I have a room at the MGM. I can promise you pleasure that you've only read about in the trashy romance novels you read at work when you think no one is watching you." He said kissing her ear lobe as he slid his hand further up her leg to the hem of her dress. "No love. No games. No lying. Just the raw sex that you've been craving since you heard about this trip to sin city. No one has to know but us and in the morning you can go back to being Sarah the boring furniture sales rep. Go back to your boring life, and your boring house, in the boring suburbs of what ever Midwest city you're from and back to your boring limp dicked husband that's more worried about his fantasy football team then he is about fucking you the way you want to be fucked. The way you got fucked back in high school when you were getting it from the high school quarterback in the back seat of his car. Raw and hot and wet." Chuck said in a deep voice that had her shuddering and flushed. "Come with me if you want that. If you don't then stay here at this bar and keep living your boring life Sarah." He said walking away. He stopped to talk to the bar tender and then he walked out of the bar.

Sarah took a deep shuddering breath and felt the goose bumps run up and down her arms. She was out of her seat in a flash and walking out of the bar as she exited the doors she felt someone grab her are and spin her around. Chuck pined her up against the wall of the club and kissed her hard taking her muffled protests and pushing his tongue into her mouth. Just as she was getting into it he pulled back and lead her to his lack Mustang. He pulled out of the parking lot and they were getting out of the car before she even realized they had left the parking lot. Chuck handed her out of the car and pushed her back across the hood of the car. He kissed her again and this time she was ready for him. She kissed back with the same amount of heat but she lost focus when his hand found her black silk thong. "How would you like me to fuck you right here in the parking lot? Would you like that? The danger of getting caught turn you on even more?" He asked slipping his finger under the front of her panties and rubbing her clit.

"Yes." She gasped out.

"I'm going to make you cum for me and I want you to be as loud as you want." Chuck said slipping two finger inside of her tight wet sex. She moaned and bit his neck as he hit everyone of her buttons. "Cum for me Sarah. Let go of it all and scream for me." He growled.

"OH MY GOD!" She screamed and fell back on the hood of the car.

"Good. My little slut." He said pulling her black thong off and sticking it in his pocket. "Now you're going to follow me up to my room and you're going to show me how talented your mouth is." He said licking his fingers. She just nodded unable to form words at the moment.

Some time during the early dawn hours Sarah felt him get up and get dressed. When she heard the door close she rolled over and looked around. Her abs were tight and sore. Her legs felt like jelly and the room smelled like sex. She stood up and turned on the lights. She saw a business card on the bed side table. She picked it up and smirked a sexy little smirk. The card read Richard Colson, HP Design. On the back was a hand written note. 'thanks for the wild night Sarah - Not Richard.' "Not Richard, Chuck." She said laying back down.

Chuck came back into the room a half hour later carrying a tray. "I thought you could use something to eat. I was very rough last night and you need the energy." He said softly. As he set the tray down. "I have French toast and OJ, and bacon. I also have a bottle of water and a few Advil for the pain in your wrists." Chuck said blushing and looking down.

Sarah smiled and looking at her red wrists it seamed that Not Richard liked to tie his women to the bed, and Sarah the sales rep. liked to be tied down even more. It was something new for both of them and she could see he was feeling a bit self-conscious about it. She wrapped the bed sheet around herself and took a seat across form him at the table. "Thanks, I could use them." She said smiling up at him.

"Yeah, I don't know where that came from." He said rubbing the back of his neck.

"I do. Sarah the sales rep. was submissive and you picked up on that fact and used it. It was a very good move. Well played Chuck." She said spreading cream cheese on her French toast.

"Yes well, I… I'm not sure how to feel right now and I'd really like it if we just skipped over talking about it for now." He said looking down at his hands.

"Chuck." She said looking at him but he didn't raise his head to met her eyes. "Chuck. Sweetie, look at me please?" She said touching his hand on the table. When he raised his head she saw shame in his eyes. "Hay. Don't give me that look. You have nothing to feel bad about. You gave me exactly what I wanted last night and I'm very happy with your performance. You didn't hurt me. You didn't scare me off. And you didn't make me think for a second that the man I saw last night was anything like you Chuck. You played a part just like I did. Do you think I like playing the Submissive all the time? No, I don't. You know that I don't but last night I wanted to. I wanted you to take me and you did. Chuck if were going to spend the rest of our lives together then you have to understand that I like to play sometimes. Everyone does. It's what makes being with someone more fun. Do I want that every night? No. In fact I don't think I could handle it. But can we go out once in a while and play as Sarah the sales rep and Not Richard? Your dam right we can. I want us to. I want you to let out the dominant side every once in a while. And I want to tie you up sometimes too. Some nights I'm going to want you to hold me and touch me and love me. Some nights I'm going to just make sure you feel loved. We're partners Chuck, it's what being together means to me. We attack every situation as a team. Now if you're still feeling guilty then you can grab that lotion from the nightstand and give me a massage. I think I pulled something in my side last night." She said smiling.

"Are you hurt?" Chuck asked standing up and coming to her side.

"No but I'm sore. In more ways then one you stud." she said kissing him lovingly on the lips. "Now slave, grab the lotion and get to work. I want to feel your strong fingers all over my body." She said picking up her last piece of bacon and walking over to the bed. As she went she let the sheet fall to the floor and she laughed at the grown he made at the back of his throat. She laid out on the bed and looked back at him over her shoulder. "Now Slave! Move your ass." She said pointing to the floor next to the bed.

Chuck smirked and grabbed the lotion. "Yes ma'am." He said falling to his knees next to the bed.

"Ma'am? Do I look like an old lady to you? You will call me Goddess and you do as you are told." She said.

"Yes Goddess." Chuck said laughing.

"I see we like this game more? You like being my slave don't you?" She asked as he started rubbing her shoulder.

"Very much Goddess." He said loving the feel of her soft skin under his fingers.

"Good. I like it too. I think this will happen more often. You need to be shown your place. Now work slave I want to fall asleep to you fingers working their magic." She said sighing as he found a knot in her back.

"Yes Goddess." He said kissing her neck.

"I love you Chuck. Never forget that." She said softly.

"I know and I love you more." He said moving her hair aside to kiss her lips softly as she drifted off to sleep with a happy smile.

The next day was new years eve. They got dressed in eye catching outfits. Sarah in a lime green mini dress, and Chuck in a nuclear green Hawaiian shirt and white khakis. They spent the day casino hopping. The point was to get Casey's attention. For the past three day Casey had lead his NSA hunting party on a wild goose chase across northern California and up into Canada. The trail was way dry and Casey was starting to lose face with his team. So he called them and told them to start the next phase of the plan. So here they were acting like fools, and not agents. As they were walking down the strip Chuck got serous. He pulled her to him. "Marry me?" he asked as she curled up in to his chest.

"Okay?" She asked with a smile.

"No I mean, now, tonight. We can go down the strip and find a little wedding chapel." Chuck said kissing the top of her head.

"Chuck that's not a part of the plan. We have to get spotted and then go our separate ways." She said with a sad smile.

"I know, I just, I don't know? I want to do this before we go. I want you to know that I'm yours. Even though we can't see each other for a while, we will always be together. When you were in that dress shop I went across the street and got these." He said holding out his hand to show her the two rings he bought. One was a simple platinum band, the other one however, was a slim platinum band topped with a big princess cut diamond flanked by two smaller emerald cut diamonds.

"Oh Chuck! It's prefect. I love it." She said running a shaking finger over the ring.

"So will you marry me?" He asked with a shy smile.

"Yes, Chuck. Yes I will. Lest go. I saw a cute little chapel back the way we came." she said taking his hand and dragging him back down the street.

"Okay! I'm coming." He said with a laugh.

They found the chapel she was looking for. It was small. An old couple ran it. The old woman took down their names. Sarah Walker, and Charles Carmichael. She helped them fill out the forms, and printed out there marriage certificate. "Do you have rings." She asked pointing out a case with gold bands.

"We have rings. Thank you." Chuck said showing her the rings.

"Very nice. I'll go see if Jim is done with the last couple." she said before she walked through a curtain.

"Are you nervous?" Sarah asked hugging his arm.

"No. In fact I feel really good. I do want to do this again at some point after this is all done. You deserve a white wedding. Plus Ellie would kill me if we didn't have a big wedding." Chuck said reassuringly, running his hand up and down her arm.

"Yeah, I kind of promised Casey he could walk me down the isle. I don't think he's going to like us getting married without him." She said with a laugh.

"And don't forget Morgan. I think there's a contract somewhere stating he gets to be my best man at my wedding, and I get to return the favor when it's his turn." Chuck said.

"Oh Chuck! I just thought about something. Look at the way we're dressed. The pictures are going to be hideous." She said looking at her lime green dress.

"It's a nice day for a, GREEN Wedding!" Chuck sang as he shook his head to the Billy Idol song.

"Chuck please stop! I can't get married in this! Look at me! I look like a color blind hooker!" She said almost in tears.

"Come on you don't look that bad. Plus think about the story we can tell our kids." he said before making his voice higher. "Daddy why did you and Mommy get married in lime Green? Well little Sarah, me and your mommy were on the run from your uncle Casey and I talked your mommy into marrying me. And because we did it so fast we didn't have time to change." Chuck said softly as he planted little kisses on the top of her head.

"Little Sarah?" she asked with a small smile.

"No? How about Marry? After my mom?" He asked with the same smile.

"How about we talk about it in a few years?" she asked before she planted a wet kiss on his lips.

"Jim's ready for you now. Come on back." the old lady said with a big smile.

They walked up the short isle and stood before an old man in a black suit. He looked down at the card the old lady gave him and nodded. "Since you marked the simple ceremony box I think we can skip most of the pomp and circumstance don't you?" He said with a big smile. "Do you Charles take Sarah to be your lawfully wedded wife. To honor and cherish. For richer or poorer. In sickness and in health. Till death do you part?"

"I do." Chuck said rubbing his thumbs over the back of her knuckles and tears started to fall from her eyes.

"And do you Sarah take Charles to be your lawfully wedded husband. To honor and cherish. For richer or poorer. In sickness and in health. Till death do you part?"

"I do." She said through her tears.

"Exchange rings."

Chuck pulled the two rings out of his pocket and handed her his ring before he slid her ring into place on her finger. She took his hand and did the same thing.

"Then by the power vested in me by the state of Nevada I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." And Chuck did just that. He pulled her to him and planted the powerful kiss on her lips. He kissed her so hard she was unsteady on her feet afterwards. They stood off to the side and posed for a few pictures then they were ushered back to the front of the chapel and asked to wait for the pictures to be done. A half hour after they walked in single. They left marred. They headed back to their room and Chuck carried her across the threshold. He dropped her on the bed and fell down next to her.

"So do you feel any different?" Chuck asked running hand over her back.

"Yes. I'm married! I can't believe it. I never thought this would ever happen." she said looking at her ring.

"Well the night's not over yet. I still owe you 70. I think we can get that number down to 65 before you pass out. What do you say Mrs. Carmichael?" Chuck whispered in her ear. She shivered.

"You are getting way to good at that." she said as she unbuttoned his shirt .

"I learned from the best Mrs. Carmichael." he said as he kissed down her neck.

Casey was not having a good day. Trying to keep a team of NSA agents from finding Chuck and Sarah was really starting to get complicated. To top it all off Melissa kept asking if Chuck really did the things in his file. He was just about to lose it when an agent came running in. "Sir we found them! They just got married in Vegas under the name Carmichael. We have surveillance video of the two of them from the wedding chapel and we got a copy of the wedding photos off the chapel's server. We back tracked them to the MGM Grand." The agent said handing Casey the file with everything in it.

"Gather the team! I want to be on the road headed south in ten minutes!" he yelled. As the agents scrambled to get their gear together Casey looked over the wedding photos. He smiled when he saw the two of them standing together, kissing. They looked terrible. Walker Looked like a hooker and Chuck looked like a random John. It meant a few things. One, they did it spontaneously. Two, they were going to have to have a real wedding. Three, he was going to be there for it. He didn't have a family of his own but those two had warmed their way into his cold dead heart. He found himself smiling more now. Laughing more. Feeling more alive then he had in the last twenty years and it was all thanks to these two. He laughed as he walked out to his SUV. It would take them all night to get to Vegas form here. That should give them enough time to enjoy their wedding night.


	6. Chapter 6

GETTING COUGHT: Chuck and Sarah where dead asleep when she heard a ringing. Her head popped off the pillow and her body ached as she stood up and walked over to her purse. They had so much sex last night she lost count of how many times they did. She knew she got off twice as many times as they went at it last night and her abs felt like she just did PT in boot camp again. She picked up her purse and found the source of the ringing. It was a weak up to a call from Casey on the next burner phone. "Yeah." she mumbled out.

"Walker or is it Mrs. Carmichael now? You two got married last night. That was not part of the plan. But at least I know where to look for you. I'm on my way with twenty agents we're about two hours out. You have to say your goodbyes now. I want you out of Nevada by the time I get there Walker you here me?" He said.

"Yes John. And for the record when this is all over I want you to walk me down the isle when we get married under our real names." Sarah said.

"I will. Tell lover boy to get a move on too. He needs to start heading towards Texas." Casey said.

"Okay John. I'll talk to you later." She said before he hung up, snapped the flip phone in half, and tossed the pieces in the trash can by the bed.

Chuck's head popped up when Sarah got off the bed. "Leaving so soon Mrs. Carmichael?" He asked with a charming smile.

"I'm afraid so Mr. Carmichael. Casey is two hours out and I have to get going." She said as she gathered clothes from her bag.

"Well that sucks Mrs. Carmichael. But if you have to go I must insist on washing your back for you in the shower. It's the husbandly thing to do." Chuck said with a huge smile.

"Well if you insist I have to let you. I think I remember taking a vow along those lines last night." She said holding up her left hand an proudly showing of her small platinum wedding ring.

A half hour later Sarah was getting dressed as Chuck laid on the bed in a bath robe watching her. "You know I don't think I'm going to ever get over just how beautiful you really are. How the hell did I trick you in to loving me?" He asked with a small smile.

"It happened somewhere between free styling Vicky Vale and helping a little girl get over stage freight. I had every intention of walking into that Buy More and seducing you, but the second you smiled that honest big smile of yours I was put off my game. When you told that little girl that ballerinas are tall I knew that I was looking at the future father of my children. You disarmed me Chuck and I have never been so happy in my life. The truth is I look at you and I try to figure out how I tricked you in to loving me." She said with a teary smile.

Chuck flew out of bed and kneeled down next to her. "Hey if anyone is marrying down it's you not me. You're Sarah Walker for god sakes. You're a superwoman. You've taken down terrorists, and governments. You have goddess beauty and badass super secret spy skills. Don't you ever think for a minute that I don't know how lucky I am. I don't deserve you, no one dose, but I plan on spending the rest of my life trying to show you how much I love you. How much I worship the very ground you walk on."

"Carmichael" she choked out between watery laughs.

"What?" Chuck asked with a small smile as he wiped the tears off her cheek with his thumb.

"My name is Sarah Carmichael now. I have been for the past eight hours, and don't you sell yourself short either! I married a truly wonderful man. You are the kindest and sweetest man in the world. And the next few weeks apart are going to be truly unbearable. I agree with you that this plan is going to work and it's the best option for all of us, but spending time away from you now that I have you is going to be unbearable." She said as she allowed him to pull her down on the bed and hold her.

"I know. I think I could cut that time down a bit but I would have to do it now." Chuck said as he kissed the top of her head.

"How?"

"I'm going to let them catch me today instead of three days from now. In fact when you leave I'm going to order room service and then go walk around the casino floor. That will cut the plan down by three days but it will speed up the early stages. Do you think you can pull off your end with less time?" He asked with a smile.

"I can work with that. As long as Casey's friend is there. If not then I have to hope Carina is in D.C. like you said. If she's not there then you know what I'm going to have to do, and Chuck I don't think I can. Not any more." She said in a mild panic.

Chuck took hold of her shoulders and pulled her on top of him as he kissed her with everything he had. He kept kissing her until she stopped shaking. "Sarah I know. I know how you feel and you know how I feel. She will be there she is being benched for the next two weeks for going off book on her last mission. She is chained to a desk for the at lest this week, but the fact that she got a member of her team shot I think we can breath easy for awhile. She will be there. Casey's friend Major Snow will be there too and neither of you have to do anything like that. Everything on your end was set up three days ago I set it up myself. You have nothing to worry about." Chuck said as he rubbed her back under her shirt.

"No, the only thing I have to worry about is you. Chuck I'm not so sure about your part of the plan." She said softly.

"What part are you worried about?" Chuck asked.

"Well lets see, there's you getting captured, then there's the interrogation. And the new handler. And the fact that you're going to be playing two side against each other. Chuck you know I love you, but that seams like a tall order even for a seasoned agent." She said sarcastically. But when she saw the brief flash of hurt cross his face she pulled him into a soft kiss. "I'm not saying you can't do it. In fact I think you can. I'm just saying it's going to be hard. Not to mention dangerous. I'm just worried about you. You know I can't lose you Chuck, not now. If you feel at any point that you can't complete your mission Casey has agreed to pull you out and ship you off to your sister. As soon as that happens I'll be on the next flight out. We can run Chuck. We can take Ellie and Awesome and run. We can change our names and live the dream of sunny beaches and steamy nights. You know I would much rather have that then not have us at all. We can do it Chuck, in fact we can go now. We can be gone before Casey even sets foot in this city." She said pulling him off the bed. But Chuck pulled her back down.

"That's why I think we should speed this up. I wont have to spend too much time playing both sides then. And if we run now we have to run for the rest of our lives. You know they will never let us just leave. And you also know that if we run Fulcrum will win. They will take over the country, and keep getting more powerful until they take over the world. I have the Intersect in my head, I know what they have planed, and its not pretty. If we run now we will doom the whole world. I don't mean to sound so self important but you know as well as I do that without our help the CIA and the NSA will have no way of stopping them. They are too well set up. Only us. Only you, me, and Casey have been keeping them from already taking over. We are the speed bump in their high speed road to world domination. Sarah we have to do this. We both have missions. We both hold the fate of the world in our hands. I will do everything in my power to complete my mission, and I want you to promises me that you will do the same thing. We might be Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael in this room right now but the second we step out that door we are agents Sarah Walker and Charles Carmichael. We are spies. I don't know if you know this but my last update had all of our mission records on it. I don't like to toot my own horn by agent Carmichael is kind of a badass on paper. And I don't have to tell you who agent Walker is. Now come here and give me one last kiss as Mrs. Carmichael." Chuck said before he pulled her into the most intense kiss either of them had ever experienced.

"Now give me one of your knives." Chuck said as he stood up from the bed. She reached under her skirt and pulled out a small throwing knife. Chuck took it and walked over to the window. He pulled the window shade open and cut the shade cord he then cut the cord in half. "Give me your ring Mrs. Carmichael please." Chuck said holding out his hand. Sarah took off the small band with a shaky hand and placed it in his outstretched hand. Chuck treaded her ring through one of the cords before knotting it and slipping it over his head. He then took off his ring and did the same thing before slipping it over her head. "When this is all over I want you to give that ring back to me, and I will give back your ring. Until then we are not the Carmichaels. We are two agents on a mission. I absolve you of your vows until you get this ring back. Until then you are Agent Sarah Walker of the CIA. You're the best of the best, and you don't take shit from no one." Chuck said with such a commanding voice that Sarah's knees got weak. But she knew what he was saying. For the next few weeks they had to be agents first and anything else had to come second. Too much was at stake to worry about anything else. They would have the rest of their life to be more then just agents but right now she needed to be Sarah Walker.

She turned to him and gave him a sad smile. "And you are agent Charles Carmichael. The most unorthodox badass spy ever. You fly helicopters without training, and charm the pants off of international arms dealers. You're smart and charming, and just plane fearless. You throw a knife like a pro, and you're a crack shot. If Sarah Walker ever had an equal it would be Charles Carmichael, all around Badass, and sexy beast." Sarah said with the same level of conviction, and a sassy smirk. "And no matter what you might think, that's who you are to me. Always!" she said before she took a step back and lost all of the emotion from her face. Gone was the sexy smile, and the twinkle in her eyes. They were replaced with an emotionless mask and cold, dead eyes. The eyes of a killer, Chuck thought. But instead of feeling weird, or scared. A sense of excitement, and raw sexual lust sprang up in his chest. Then her words sunk into his brain, words like badass, and fearless. With those word running through his head Chuck opened the door and let Carmichael out. He stood a little bit taller, his head held a little bit higher, and when he looked at her his smile became a confident smirk. If she was going to be Agent Sarah Walker then he would Be Agent Charles Carmichael. The awesome spy he created in his head. The perfect mix of the worlds greatest spies.

He held out his hand and she took it without thinking. "Agent Charles Carmichael, CIA. And you are?" He asked in a confident, strong voice that surprised both of them.

"Agent Sarah Walker, Also of the CIA." She said in a deep seductive voice that would have had Chuck Bartowski on his knees, but agent Carmichael just flashed her a smile full of white teeth and arched an eyebrow in obvious recognition.

"Nice to meet you Agent Walker, your reputation precedes you. But I must say you're even more beautiful in person." He said as he brought her hand up to his lips and brushed a light kiss across her knuckles.

"As does yours, Agent Carmichael." She said with a blush creeping across her chest and neck.

"Maybe after my mission is over we can meet somewhere and talk about our legendary reputations over a drink, but until then, I wish you the best of luck Agent Walker." He said before kissing her hand again and walking her to the door. He picked up her gun off the bedside table and with a confidence neither of them knew he possessed he walked around her and with his breath on her exposed neck he slipped her gun into her waistband and trailed his hand across her back to her shoulder. He opened the door and led her out of the room with a gentle, but firm hand on her back. When the door shut behind her she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. One thing was for sure, she was definitely going to have that drink with him as soon as possible.

Chuck ordered room service and emailed Carina again, when he got done eating he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He felt the stubble on his face when he was done. Chuck would be bothered by the unclean look of his rough stubble, but agent Carmichael thought it looked rugged and tough so he left it. He walked into his room and looked over the clothes Sarah packed for him. He thumbed through the selection and found a black two button suit. He tossed it on the bed along with a white dress shirt, and a black skinny tie. He got dressed before he went looking for shoes. He looked at the two pairs of shoes sitting by the closet. One was his trusty Chuck Tyler's, the other was an expensive pair of black leather dress shoes. Looking at the two he was torn, but then he look at his reflection in the mirror and his decision was made for him. Carmichael had style. He had class. He was a badass, and for the first time in his life Chuck… No Charles, was dressed like a spy. Selecting a pair of expensive shades and adjusting his tie and gun in his waist band Charles Carmichael left his room and made his way down to the casino floor. He took a seat at a high roller black jack table and slapped down a large wad of cash. He turned to the cougar sitting next to him and smiled a wolfish smile. "I'm Charles Carmichael. God's gift to women. And you are?" He asked with confidence while staring her in the eyes.

"Susan." She said with a giggle as a blush formed across her chest.

"Well hello Susan, has anyone ever told you that you have hypnotic eyes? Simply breath taking. I'm going to order a drink Susan, would you like one as well?" he asked as he flagged down a waitress.

"But it's early still." she said.

"It's five o'clock somewhere." He said with a shrug. "Jonny Walker Black, neat, and the lady will have?" he asked looking at Susan with a confident smirk.

"White Russian." she said.

"Wow, it's been a long time since I had one of those. I think her name was Helena." Chuck said.

"Oh my. You are very smooth aren't you?" She said running her hand up his arm.

"But I can be rough if you're into that sort of thing." he said with a wink.

For the next hour he flirted with Susan and won over ten thousand dollars. He was just thinking about splitting tens when ten agents in black suits surrounded the table and pointed there guns at him, Casey was standing in the center of the group. "Charles Carmichael, you are under arrest for treason. Come quietly and I wont have to shoot you." Casey said holding up a pair of hand cuffs.

Chuck nodded calmly and collected his chips into a tray. He turned to Susan, "It seams I've been a bad boy and the fuzz is here to get me. It's been a pleasure talking to you, to bad we didn't have time for anything else." he said with a sexy smile. He then waved over the pit boss. Glancing at his name tag Chuck handed the chips to him and slug his arm around his shoulder. "Well Sam it seams I'm being arrested. Can you cash out these chip and add it too my room tab?" Chuck asked with the confidence of someone not looking down the barrels' of ten guns.

"Of course sir." The pit boss said, unsure of what to do.

"Great! It's room 1346, the name is Carmichael. Keep my room open for me, I hope to be back soon." He said with his new half smile as he put a hundred dollar chip in Sam's left hand. He then turned to Casey and smiled like he just noticed him "Oh! Major Casey, it's very good to see you again. What's with all of the hardware?" He asked with a casual wave at the other agents.

Casey took a second to school his face because he was very close to laughing his ass off. "Well we are kind of here to arrest you Chuck." He said jingling the cuffs.

"Right." Chuck said like he just remembered the crimes he committed. He reached into his jacket but stopped when all of the agents moved with him. "Relax guys, I'm just getting may shades. It's bright outside, we're in the middle of a desert you know." He said with a laugh as he fished his shades out and put them on. He then strolled up to Casey and held he hands out to be cuffed. Casey cuffed him and took the gun out of Chucks waist.

"Where is Agent Walker Chuck?" Casey asked as he lead Chuck through the casino floor and out the front door.

"No clue?" Chuck with a casual shrug.

Casey opened the back door to a black suburban and helped Chuck in.

"So where are you taking me Major?" Chuck asked

"An underground bunker. Where is Walker?" Casey asked.

"Don't know. And for the record the name is Carmichael, Charles Carmichael." Chuck said with a flirtatious smile at the busty redhead sitting next to him. "But I must ask what this breath taking example of perfection is called?" Chuck asked holding out his cuffed hands.

"Melissa Barns. You're Agent Carmichael? Did you really take down La Ciuad?" She all but gushed as she took his hand and Chuck brushed a kiss across her knuckle.

Chuck saw a scowl cross Casey's face. "Yes, although I must admit that the Major over there did most of the heavy lifting by taking out the six very large mercenaries that came with her. The Major is quite the fighter. Took out all of them with his bare hands. Right Major?" Chuck asked without breaking eye contact with Melissa.

"It was three guys." Casey said still scowling.

"He's just being modest. Don't let him fool you. He stood toe to toe with six of the biggest henchmen I've ever seen. All I did was sweep her off her feet on the dance floor. Tell me Melissa, do you like to dance? I bet you do. You have the legs of a dancer." Chuck asked in a low sexually charged voice.

"Yes." she said breathy as the skin of her neck and chest flushed pink.

"What's your favorite dance Melissa? Is it the tango? You know what they say about the tango? They say to really tango, to really connect with your partner and become one on the dance floor you have to have wild passionate sex first. Only then can you harness the true sexuality of the dance." Chuck said in a low rumble as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, and flashed her a wolfish smile.

"Oh my, I would love to tango with you agent Carmichael." She said as the flush traveled up her neck to her face making her blush a pretty red color.

"Tango, or really Tango? You know the difference. What do you want Melissa? Do you want to harness the true sexuality of the dance?" Chuck all but whispered into her ear as he ran his thumb over her pulse point on her wrist. "Tell me Melissa, have you ever really tangoed. I mean really tangoed in you're life? Have you ever experienced a tango on a hot steamy Argentinean night. In a little outdoor bar where the music is as smooth as the taught expanse of half naked flesh, and the cool rum drinks raise goose bumps on you skin? Have you ever been taken out on the dance floor, lead there by a partner that knows the power of the tango? Have you ever used and been used on the dance floor Melissa?" He whispered as his nose bused her ear and his thumb traveled up her forearm to the spot behind her elbow.

By now Melissa was panting and her chest was perspiring. "No," So panted out.

"Would you like to? Would you like to be taken and used on the dance floor Melissa? Would you like to be taken?" He asked before moving his hand to her stomach and rubbed the pad of his thumb over her belly button as he bit her ear lobe. Melissa let out a shattering sob as she convulsed in his hands and all but passed out. "I hope that was good for you Melissa, why don't you just lie back and relax. You've errand it, that's it Melissa, that's my sexy little dancer." He said softly as she lay back in the seat and her breath evened out. Chuck made sure she was asleep before he turned to Casey. "Casey what are you doing running around with a Fulcrum agent?" Chuck asked casually.

"What?!" Casey asked turning around in his seat to look in the back.

"Eyes on the road big guy, I got it. But just so you know Melissa Barns back here is a Fulcrum agent. Admittedly she is not a very good agent, but I flashed on her file. She is mostly assigned to seduction missions. Think of her as an NSA Carina. Except not as good as you can see. I just put her out with the Sarah Walker special. She obvious knows nothing about true seduction." Chuck said as he leaned forwards in his seat.

"She's NSA, or at lest I thought so. She was going to be your new handler, but if she fulcrum we need to report her." Casey said.

"No, leave her in place. I've already opened up a line of dialog with her. I can work her and she can get us what we need faster then if I try working what ever agent they send. Plus if I can do that to her with out really touching her imagine what I could do to her if I touched her. I'm telling you it's almost sad how easy she is. You said she was NSA? Do they teach you nothing about seduction?" Chuck asked.

"They teach us, but it's not that Important to us. It's not like Walker. We never really rely on it. We're more solders, and assassins, then seduction and infiltration experts. What did you do to her anyway?" Casey asked looking over his shoulder at her.

"Well it's what Sarah said: Find what they like, paint a scene in there mind of the perfect fantasy, then add just enough touching to excite them, and when they are so into it that they lose track of the world around them put them over the edge. With her I noticed she got more excited the closer I got to her earlobe, she also clinched her abs every time I added to the fantasy so when the time was right I rubbed her belly and bet her earlobe and she came so hard I think she pulled something. Lets face it Casey if I can do that to her here. What can I do to her if I get her shirt off. Sarah taught me well." Chuck said with a smirk.

"Wow, Walker taught you all that? When?" Casey asked.

"On the way to Vegas. She knew I would have to break a fulcrum agent and she taught me that to biggest sexual organ in a woman's body is her brain. Get a woman sexually excited mentally and she'll be putty in your hand." Chuck said "Tell me when we get there, until then I have to establish a comfortable touching connection." Chuck said before scooting over to Melissa and awkwardly putting his still cuffed hands on her belly and slowly he started to rub making sure to use just enough pressure to not wake her. He then leaned into her and gently blew on her neck and ear, this raised goose bumps all over her body causing her to shiver. She moaned out Charles in her sleep and bit her lip. He smiled and shook his head. Sometimes being a spy was hard, but then every once in a while the job was just too easy.


	7. Chapter 7

LOCKED UP/ sex toy:

Casey pulled up to a nondescript office building in an industrial park. He pulled Chuck from the suburban and marched him inside with Melissa following them with her small suitcase and Chuck's two bags. Inside the building it looked like any other office but Chuck knew better. As soon as he saw the building he flashed. He was entering the NSA secure holding facility, code name: Black Sand. It was fifty miles north of Las Vegas, and was made to house assets, and prisoners alike.

The facility was a mile underground and was a huge maze. Chuck was able to keep track of where he was being taken because the flash had a very detailed map. He was being lead to a VIP low security holding cell. Basically a large one bedroom apartment with no windows and one large metal door. His room was under the lowest security scrutiny. There were two armed guards outside his room at all times and he would have a live in handler, Melissa, watching his every move. But there were no cameras in the room. Casey must have picked this room for that very reason. The door had no lock on it either, but there would always be two guards standing outside and they would stop him if he tried to go anywhere. But aside from that he really couldn't complain.

He had a very comfortable bed and couch. A big screen TV with an Xbox360, and a Blu ray player with a list of movies he liked. He had a refrigerator full of his favorite sodas and energy drinks, hell they even stocked his favorite beer. A full wet bar, and a cabinet full of chips and candy bars. Chuck just finished getting the tour by Melissa ending up in the main room/living room. He plopped down on the couch as she finished her tour. "… and you can order anything you want any time, be it entertainment like games, or movies. Or foods that you like to eat, or pretty much anything. Think of this as a very swanky hotel, all you have to do is pick up the phone and ask for it and we will get it for you." She said with a huge smile as she sat next to him on the couch. She was confused, but confident. He was really responding to her. He was practically seducing himself. And his hands. He knew just what to do with them. She wondered what his hands would feel like on her naked flesh.

"That's great. I'm pretty hungry, we were on the road for a while. How about we order some lunch and I can get to know you better as we eat, besides it looks like we're going to be spending a lot of time together from now on." Chuck said with a half smile as he looked at the huge menu by the phone on the end table. "How dose surf and turf sound to you? Do you like stake and lobster?" He asked as he picked up the phone. He heard a couple of clicks and a lady answered "Yes, hello. Who is this? Well hello Sally this is Agent Charles Carmichael. I would like you to send up two surf and turf meals please. And a nice bottle of wine to go with it. No how about you surprise me with the wine selection. I wouldn't dream of insulating the chef by picking a bad wine match for the meal he's preparing. Thank you Sally. And please call me Charles." Chuck hung up the phone and smiled at Melissa. "She said lunch will be sent up in twenty minutes. I say that gives us twenty minutes to start our conversation, don't you?" He asked turning around to look at her.

"Well what do you want to know about me Charles?" She asked with a sexy smile.

"How about the first date basics? Where did you grow up and when did you decide to join the NSA?" Chuck asked as he leaned into her and loop his around the back of the couch in a very casual way.

Casey exited the building and got into his suburban. He fished out the next burner phone and called Sarah. She must have been very worried about Chuck because she picked up before the first ring ended. "How is he Casey?" she asked in mild panic.

"He's fine so far Walker, relax. You guys just keep messing with the plan. As for Chuck? The kid's doing good. I don't know what you taught him but I got to tell you he looks, acts, and sounds like a real agent. Hell if I didn't know him I'd think he was the worlds biggest badass." Casey said with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" She asked in a more relaxed tone.

"When we got to him he was flirting with a woman and playing black jack. He was winning if the huge stack of chips was any indication. We surrounded him with twenty agents, guns drawn, and he just calmly handed his chips off to the pit boss and asked me what I was doing there. He didn't blink, he didn't flinch, hell he didn't even acknowledge the guns. He was cool. He reminded me a bit of your ex pretty boy, Bryce Larkin. Hell he was even dressed like him, black suit, white shirt and black tie. I think the Buy More incident has given him a whole new attitude. Oh and I didn't even get to the good part. He well… I don't know what he did to his new handler." Casey said unsure what to tell her.

"What did he do Casey?" She asked in an emotionless voice.

"To tell you the truth I don't really know. I was watching them the whole time through the rear view mirror and I can honestly say he didn't even really touch her all that much but I can tell you one thing for damn sure I have never seen a woman orgasm so hard in my life with her clothes still on. He said you taught him how to do it." Casey said with a laugh.

"Thank you Casey. I'll contact you later." she said before she tossed the phone out the window. Sarah didn't know what to feel at that very moment. She was experiencing a huge range of emotions. She was relived that Chuck was okay. She was excited that he was fully in agent mode, it meant he would be able to finish his mission without failing. She was even proud that he remembered all of the training that she taught him over the last three days. But she was also feeling something else, she was feeling jealousy.

She felt a blinding, raging, jealousy that started in the pit of her stomach and run throughout her whole body. She gripped the steering wheel harder and gritted her teeth. She didn't even know this woman that her Chuck was seducing but she knew she hated her. She hated her with a animalistic, territorial, rage. She hated her so much that it scared her for a split second, and that was all the time her brain needed to get her heart under control. She pulled off the road and put the car in park. She needed to remember their conversation this morning. She needed to remember that it wasn't her Chuck that was working that woman over. No, it was agent Carmichael. It was a totally different person, and she should know that. How many times did Agent Walker seduce a mark? It was at that moment a thought hit her square in the face. This is how her Chuck must have felt. This is what he must have gone through during all of those mission they went on. She unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt and pulled out his ring. It was warm to the touch from sitting on her chest, but at that moment nothing had ever felt so cold in her life. She didn't deserve to have this ring. To hold the symbol of his love for her. She had put him through so much hurt, so much pain. How many times did he have to sit at a bar as she went off and flirted with a mark? How many times did he feel like she just did? And how many times did she or Casey tell to suck it up and stop being a little baby. Two tears ran over her cheeks and she let out a choked sob. She looked at the ring through blurry eyes and saw something for the first time. There was an engraving on the inside of the band. Wiping her eyes she held the ring up to her face and read the two word inscription: Hers Always. It was simple, but it made such a huge statement. He belonged to her, always. She didn't have her ring but she was sure it said His Always, and if it didn't then it would as soon as she got it back damn it. He deserved that at lest. He deserved to know that she belonged to him just as much as he belonged to her. She clinched the ring in her hand, "As soon as this mission is over I'm going to show you just how much I love you Chuck." She felt a heat travel over her flesh as she thought about all the things she was going to do to him after she put this ring back on his finger. She tucked the ring back into her shirt and with a confident smile she took off down the road again.

"I grew up in Chicago." Melissa said with her vapid voice and a dreamy smile on her face as she turned her body to face Chuck on the couch.

"Big family?" He asked running his fingers through her red hair.

"No I was an only child." She said with a shiver as his hand grazed a particularly sensitive spot behind her left ear.

"Did you have any hobbies or play any sports as a kid?" Chuck asked like he didn't have her personnel file. The NSA kept very detailed records. All the way back to her high school grades and Softball batting average. To say he was board was an understatement. Looking at her records he came to the conclusion that she was used as eye candy only. To keep guys like him happy. She was not very smart. She was crap at field craft. Bad at hand to hand combat. A danger to herself and other with edged weapons. And useless past thirty feet with a handgun. In fact she didn't even carry one most of the time because she spent most of her time entertaining assets. Either in bunkers like this or living with an asset as their girlfriend.

The saddest part in Chucks opinion was she didn't even know how to seduce and control an asset. Sarah, in three days, taught him more about controlling the pace and mood then Melissa ever knew. He actually felt bad for her. He really did. Aside from being Fulcrum, he didn't know what she did for them but he guessed the same thing she did for the NSA. Or she killed people very close up. Because he was sure he was a better shot then her before he downloaded the skill.

But if he was ever going to make it as an agent he had to put those thoughts out of his head. She was a means to an end. He would play her like Sarah showed him. He would make her think he was in to her. Like he was buying what she was selling. Then he would ask her to put him in touch with her Fulcrum contact. After that he wouldn't need her. Chuck thought about all the things that went through his head and felt sick. Had he really just thought that? Was he going to just play her and ditch her like that? But then he shook his head. That was old Chuck talking like that. Old Chuck would get him killed in this situation. He needed to be Charles from now on. And Charles had no problem playing an asset. Yes he would play her. He would use her. Because Charles knew she planed on using him. Her whole objective was his compliance, now that would be his objective.

"I liked to dance, but you already picked that up. I played softball too, but I was not very good at it." She said with a giggle.

"Did you always want to be a spy?" he asked softly as he run his finger tips over the spot again and down over the pulse point on her neck.

"No I sort of fell into it. I was recruited by the NSA right out of Boot camp. I wanted to join the Army, they asked me to join them instead."

Chuck moved closer to her and looped his arm around her neck and all but whispered to her, "Now turnabout is fare play. Don't you agree Melissa? And you like playing fare don't you? So ask me anything."

"When you stopped that bomb from blowing up General Stanfield, how did you do it, all your file said was that you disarmed it." she asked.

"I hacked the laptop. I can't really remember how, you have to remember that when you go on as many missions as I do the details all get blurry." Chuck said as he moved in a little closer.

"What was your most dangerous mission?"

"There are so many to choose form. It depends on your definition of dangerous. Do you mean dangerous for me or the whole country? If we're talking about national security I'm going to have to say the time I stopped a Japanese nuclear satellite from blowing up the west coast and starting world war III. If you mean for me personally I wouldn't know. I don't think about my own safety, when it comes to national security my life is forfeit. I just can't think about my own safety." He whispered in her ear as he kissed the spot on her neck just behind her ear. She let out a gasp and shivered. "Are you cold Beautiful?" Chuck asked as he wrapped his arms around her making sure to graze her right breast with the back of his hand. She stiffened and blushed dark red.

Chuck saw her pulse quicken so her kissed her again, this time a little bit lower on her neck. At the same time he pulled her closer to him so that his left hand rested on her stomach. she let out another gasp, this one a little deeper. Chuck pushed the advantage and kissed the spot where her shoulder met her neck. When she shivered again he bit down a little and slipped his hand under the hem of her shirt and continued to rub small circles on her stomach. She was panting now and he knew that lunch was going to get here any minute now so he made one final push and bit down harder this time as his hand slid up her stomach and under her right bra cup. When his hand made contact with her quivering breast, she came again. This time with a startled cry and a half sob. "Shhhhhh, it's okay, I've got you." he whispered softly to her as he pulled her limp body into his chest removing his hand as he did. She made a sad longing sound but purred when he rubbed the small of her back under her shirt. "You have to relax Melissa. Your so tense. You keep everything bottled up. You need to let it out. You're safe with me. I've got you. You can let yourself go with me." He said in an almost hypnotic voice.

"Oh Charles… you have no idea what you do to me." She breathed out as a knock sounded at the door.

"I have to go answer that. Don't go anywhere I'll be right back." He said as he kissed her on the top of the head. He walked up to the door and looked at the LCD screen next to it. One of the guards was standing by the door with a room service cart. Chuck opened the door. "Perfect timing guys." Chuck said with a huge smile on his face as he lead the guard into the room. "Just leave it by the table. I would tip you but they took my wallet from me." Chuck said as he walked the guard out of the room.

"That's okay sir." the guard said with a smile.

"Quit it with the sir thing. Just call me Charles." Chuck said with a charming smile as he held out his hand.

"John, and my partner is Steve." John said shaking Chuck's hand.

"Good to meet you. Now if you don't mind I'm in the middle of handling my handler." Chuck said with a wolfish grin. John just laughed as he left.


	8. Chapter 8

After lunch, which Chuck found to be not so bad. The food was excellent, and the more time he spent with Melissa the less annoying she was. The more time he spent around her, the more she loosened up and stopped trying to manipulate him. Her voice lost that vapid quality, and she stopped laughing at everything Chuck said. He guessed it was the work he was putting in. She was falling for him and he didn't even have to try too hard. But then again he was probably the first Asset that focused on her. She was probably used to assets telling her to strip and get to work. It was sad they treated agents like hookers. Why bother training agents like Melissa when her job could be done by a high priced call girl? Was it any wonder she joined Fulcrum? They probably promised her real missions. He would have to find out later. Until then he just listened as she talked about the missions he went on.

He made very few comments, it was clear she was a fan. She had let slip early in the conversation that Casey told her to read his file. If only she knew the real details of those missions. How he screamed like a girl when the bullets started flying. He was getting better at not doing that, but it still happened once in a while. Or maybe he should tell her that without Sarah and Casey there to do most of the real spy work he'd be dead. That up until last week he never real held a gun before. Or that almost all of the cool, charming attitude was a resent development. That she actually had more training then him. But it didn't help him at all to tell her the truth right now. Maybe later he could talk her into quitting Fulcrum before he took them down. Maybe he could help her. But that was not his mission. His mission was to use her to get to Fulcrum Command. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't help but feel very bad about it.

"How dose it feel to be such a hero?" she asked.

"I don't know, I don't feel like a hero. I think if you want to do this job you have to celebrate each win by weighing the good results verse the sacrifices made to complete your mission." Chuck said in a grave tone. "Every mission requires sacrifice. Lying to the ones you love, burning assets, killing someone, using your body to get what you need, torturing suspects. And we do it all for people that could care less about if we live or die. I agree we are a necessary evil, but we die a little every day." He said.

"Wow, I never thought about it that way. I always thought about how cool it would be to go on missions. You must face death all the time on missions?" She said.

"I once knew a Captain that said. There's a bullet out there for all of us, we're just waiting for the day we meet the man carrying ours." Chuck said looking off in the distance. He spied the look of pure admiration on her face, and he felt a funny felling in the pit of his stomach. He knew he just paraphrased a quote from Malcolm Reynolds, of Firefly, but she didn't know that. He again felt bad. He needed to work on that if he ever wanted to be an agent like his Sarah. That thought got him thinking about Sarah. What was she doing right now? He knew she had to make her way to Washington D.C. but was she on the road? Did she ditch the Mustang? He hoped not, he liked that car. His hand subconsciously went to his chest and he felt the ring through his shirt. He missed her already. He couldn't believe she agreed to marry him, Chuck Bartowski for god's sake. He wasn't sure how he got a woman like her to love him but he wasn't going to question it. He was just going to love her back with everything he had.

"That's very deep Charles. You have a very real way of looking at our world." She said.

He shook his Chuck thoughts and focused on what she was saying. "Yeah, well I'm a realest. I know what's going to happen to me one day. I make no bones about it. I just hope to do something great before the end comes." He said staring at her with lust in his eyes. She shivered at the raw sex behind his words.

She was just about to say she could be that something. When Casey busted into the room. "Come on Chuck I have a few questions to ask and your really not going to like it." He said as he hauled Chuck out of his seat and through the door. After they got out of range of the guards Casey let go of Chuck's arm and slowed down. "How's it going in there?" Casey asked.

"Good so far. I only had to go to level three touching so far and she's starting to open up a little bit. I hope to put her out tonight with the same level of touching hopefully I can get her to really open up with out going too far." Chuck said with a shrug.

Casey nodded. He was pleased. He hoped to get Chuck through this with out him having to go too far. Level three wasn't that bad. He was glade they came up with a system to talk about this sort of thing. Casey memorized the Levels by heart because he was the go between Chuck and Sarah and he knew he would have to report to Sarah and not having to describe the acts would make this whole thing less awkward. Level 1. Was mental stimulation/fantasy. Level 2. Was light touching over the clothes. Level 3. Was light touching under the clothes. Level 4. Was heavy touching without clothes. Level 5. Was oral sex. Level 6. Was regular sex. And level 7. Was wild fantasy sex. He knew that Sarah was a professional, she would understand the situation, but he hoped Chuck never had to get to level 7. He wouldn't be able to handle the mental repercussions of having to be in that situation. "Good, I don't know if I could tell Walker you went to level 7. It would fuck you up mentally." Casey said as they made their to the interrogation room. When they got to the hallway around the corner form the room Casey stopped them. "Are you ready for this?" He asked Chuck.

"Yes, it's my plan remember?" Chuck said.

"Yeah, but talking about it and doing it is two very different things. You've never had the training for this. It's going to be very intense, and I can't break character in there. Beckman will be watching the tapes. You know what I have to do son. It's traumatic the first time, and you know what she's expecting from me. I have to give it to her." Casey said without meeting Chucks eyes.

"Hey, it's okay big guy, I knew this was going to happen. This is all on me. I knew this was going to suck. And I've met Major Casey before. He once offered to shoot both me and Sarah. Then he was going to go out and get pancakes. I've looked into his eyes and I know what's coming for me in that room." Chuck said putting his hand on Casey's arm. It was a testament to how far they came as partners that Casey didn't pull away. He just nodded and looked down. When he looked up Chuck saw the life drain from his face and Casey's jaw clinch. He grabbed Chucks arms and perp walked him around the corner to the interrogation room. He threw open the door and tossed Chuck into a metal chair on one side of the small metal table.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions, if I think you're fucking with me in any way I'm going to hurt you, and trust me Chuck I will enjoy it." Casey growled. "Do you understand me?" He asked and when Chuck gave a nod Casey reached back and smacked Chuck across the face hard enough to knock him out of the chair. "When I ask you a question you are to answer with Yes Sir. Do you hear me?" He yelled.

Chuck retook his seat. "Yes Sir." he responded.

"Good, now where is Walker?" Casey asked.

"I don't know." Chuck said and got smacked off his chair again. This time he could taste blood.

"What did I just say?! You will address me as Sir. Or I will beat you till you understand! Now where is Walker?!" Casey yelled and Chuck felt fear, true fear seep into his chest.

"I don't know sir." Chuck said as he pulled himself back into his chair.

"Bullshit! Are you telling me you two got married last night and this morning you don't know where she is?" Casey asked flexing his hand.

"Yes Sir! No, I mean No…" Chuck saw the smack coming and was able to brace against it but he still fell off his chair.

"Stop fucking with me before I really get mad!" Casey said grabbing Chuck buy his tie and pulling him into his chair.

"I swear Sir! I don't know where she is!" Chuck said as tears ran down his face.

"Explain!" Casey yelled standing over Chuck.

"We got drunk last night, and stumbled into a wedding chapel. We got married for the hell of it. You know? New years eve thing? But this morning I woke up and she was gone. She left a note that said she would be back, that she needed space. I don't know where she is! I don't know what's going on! We were supposed to run away together and then she leaves me? I have no clue where she is! Sir!" he said as an after thought when he saw Casey's hand flex.

"So you woke up and she was gone? That's your story?"

"Yes Sir." Chuck said as the tears kept flowing down his red cheeks.

"Okay, say I believe you? Where would she go?" Casey asked.

"I swear I don't know." Chuck said and when the punch impacted his chest he flew out of the chair.

"You will remember to call me sir if it kills you Bartowski!" Casey yelled as he dragged Chuck off the floor by the back of his suit jacket and drooped him on the table. "Now since you don't know where she's going, you better tell me what kind of car she's driving." Casey said lifting Chuck off the surface of the table by his tie.

"2005 Toyota Camry, silver." Chuck said and felt the back of his head hit the table.

"I swear Bartowski I will kill you if you don't show me respect! You think you're an agent? Agents don't cry like little bitches! That's what you are, you know? A little bitch! Without the Intersect your nothing but a useless little cry baby! No wonder Walker left you! Can you imagine waking up next to a little cry baby bitch like you? If I was Walker I'd shoot myself!" Casey yelled in his face and Chuck let out gut wrenching sobs. The TV screen hanging on the wall popped on and Beckman's face came up.

"MAJOR CASEY! You will stop right now! Escort Chuck back to his room and call me in ten minutes!" She yelled.

"Yes Ma'am!" he said before he hauled Chuck up and perp. walked him out of the room. Chuck kept sobbing till they were two hallways away. Then his Sobs became laughing. He was laughing so hard Casey had to stop walking to keep him from falling over.

"Did you see her face?" Chuck asked.

"Forget about Beckman, are you okay Chuck?" Casey asked looking at Chucks bruised cheeks.

"I'm fine. But you sure as hell hit hard!" Chuck said rubbing his hand softly over his face.

"I went too far Chuck! I should have never said that shit I said. I'm sorry. Very sorry son." Casey said looking down at his hands in disgust.

"Hey! No you didn't! It was perfect! You did good in there. Hell better then good. She actually called me Chuck! Just think, in a few days she's going to be calling you sir. This is what we talked about Casey. You did good. I never for one second felt in any danger. I trust you Casey. I have for a very long time now. So you get your shit together Major! You have a meeting with Beckman to get to. Lets go, we have to get me to my room so you have time to prepare for it!" Chuck said pushing Casey in the direction of his room and running. When they got close to the room Chuck stopped and stood in front of Casey. Casey took his arms and perp. walked him the rest of the way. When they got to his room John the guard opened the door and Casey pushed Chuck in. Chuck played it up by slamming into the couch and falling over. "Beckman wont be there to protect you forever. The next time you will call me Sir. Or you will die!" Casey yelled and stormed off down the hall. Melissa ran up to Chuck helped him lay on the couch.

"What happened Charles?" She asked in panic rubbing her hands over his cheeks.

"I didn't know what he wanted. And I forgot to call him Sir." Chuck said with a wince.

"That bastard! Look at your face. He messed up your beautiful face." She said with a sad look on her face.

"I'm fine. It's nothing I haven't been through before." he said standing up and grabbing a beer from the fridge. He held it to his face and sighed. No matter what he said to Melissa his face was on fire. He was sure he just had the worst ass whopping in his life and it came from Casey on his request. He was sure there was something wrong with that thought.

Melissa got up and put a few ice cubes from the wet bar in a towel and sat on the couch. "Charles come here." She said. Chuck shrugged and sat on the couch. She made him lay down with his head on her lap. Looking up he could barely see her face behind her huge chest. She put the towel to his face and Chuck let out a sigh.

"That feels good." He said as his eyes got heavy but she shook him awake.

"You can't go to sleep Charles. You have a huge bump on your head. You could have a concussion. You can't go to sleep. You have to stay awake. Why don't you tell me what he wanted?" She asked softly.

"He wanted to know where Sarah was. I told him I didn't know and he beat me." Chuck said with a shrug.

Casey didn't feel good. He had done a lot of bad things in his life but he never felt this bad after doing something like this. He didn't like hitting Chuck, and he felt even worse because Chuck said it was okay. It was Okay? No it was not okay. He just beat the crap out of Chuck. Chuck, the kid that took to the spy life under his and Walkers guidance. The kid looked up to him, hell he took him through the Rite. He carried his gun. He was his responsibility and he just beat him senseless. And the things he said to him. He called him things he would have killed other people for even saying out loud. In the end he knew it was for the mission, but he couldn't shake the feeling in his chest. He felt sick. He couldn't explain it but he was sure he never felt like this before. He wished he could talk to Walker. She would know what he was feeling. But he couldn't he had to talk to Beckman first. So he took a few big breaths and entered a conference room. The TV was already on and Beckman's angry face was staring at him, and she looked ready to kill him through the TV screen.

"What the hell was that all about Major!?" She yelled at him once the door was closed.

"I don't follow ma'am. I was asked to question him. That's what I did. I treated him like any other treasonous scumbag." Casey said with a shrug.

"Have you lost your mind Major? He's not just some treasonous scumbag. He's the Intersect for Gods sake. How are we going to get him to flash if we treat him like that. It's not like we can pull the information out of his head. We need his co-operation Major! He was your teammate for a year and a half!" She said in shock.

"He's an asset Ma'am. Nothing more remember? Hell you even gave me a kill order for him Ma'am. It's not like he's not expendable. Just say the words and I'll put him out of his misery." Casey said pulling out his gun.

"YOU WILL PUT THAT WEAPON AWAY RIGHT NOW!" She screamed standing up from her chair. "What the hell is wrong with you? You were just trying to stop me from killing them a few days ago. What the hell happened to you Major?" She asked.

"They lead me on a wild goose chase for three days ma'am. They pissed me off. If I ever find Walker I'm killing her where she stands. I'm tired of they're crap Ma'am. I'm an Agent. I should start acting like one right Ma'am? That's what you're always telling us Ma'am." He said. He was trying very hard to not laugh. Chuck was right. She would defend him. Stick up for him even. And to think it came from Bugs Bunny. Rabbit hunting season! No Duck hunting season! He thought with a smirk.

"You will stand down! I want you to leave the base for twenty four hours. We will try talking to him tomorrow. Cool off Major!" She said.

"Yes ma'am." he said and the screen whet black. He sighed and walked out to his SUV. He fished out the next phone and saw they still had twenty in the bag. That was good because they had used more then they planed on, but Chuck had planed ahead for that. He smiled and felt that pain again. He sighed and hit speed dial one.

"Casey is everything okay?" She asked with panic in her voice.

"I Don't know Walker. I just interrogated him. He stuck to the script and did good. In fact Beckman came on the TV and broke it up. She then yelled at me like Chuck said she would. But um, I have um." He said not knowing what to say.

"You got what Casey? Just spit it out! I'm dieing here!" She said franticly.

"I went too far Sarah. Too Far. Chuck didn't think so, but the things I said to him, I hit him. I smacked him around, and Called him a cry baby. I feel. Well I feel funny. Not good at all really. I should feel good about this going the way he said it would, but I feel bad about what I did." He said.

"Tell me what you feel." She said softly.

"I feel wrong. I hit the kid and I don't feel right about it." Casey said self-consciously.

"It's okay to have feelings you know. I do now and it feels really good. Before I meet Chuck I was a shell of a person. I did things without thinking about the consequences. I've killed, tortured, poisoned, and seduced my way through life. And I was okay with that. I knew I was bound for hell and I just wanted to do as much as I could before the ride was over. Chuck told me I did 157 missions over eight years and no vacation. The truth is I didn't want one. If I sat down and thought about all the horrible things I did I would have gone full on nuts Casey. But Chuck showed me it okay to have feelings. The reason we work so good together is because we really care about each other. Tell me Casey, if I was captured by Fulcrum and they were torturing me, and you knew where I was. What would you do?" she asked with a smile.

"I'd gear up and get you out." He said like it was obvious.

"Okay you make it to the Fulcrum base and they have fifty agents surrounding the perimeter. What would you do?" she asked.

"Kill them all and come get you." He said with a growl.

"Casey, field protocol states that you call in a strike team and wait for backup. But instead you would take on fifty trained agents to come rescue me. Do you know why? Because you care, John. You care that I'm in trouble. Just like you care Chuck was being beaten up. It didn't matter that it had to happen, or that it was his own idea. It hurt to beat on him, and that's good because the next time someone beats on him you can do something about it. But right now you need to get some rest. You need to detox the feelings from your system. It's over now. Chuck's fine, you're fine, and we're on schedule. I will be in D.C. by late tomorrow night. I plan on driving for another eleven hours before I stop off for the night. Take care of Chuck, and I'll see you in about five days. Till then I want you to keep it together John. You have the hardest job of all of us. You're my eyes and ears on my husband." she said with a laugh.

"Call you tomorrow Walker. And thanks for helping me with, um my…"

"Feelings John. It's not a bad word. You can say it." She said with a giggle.

"Can it Walker! I'll call tomorrow." He said before ending the call and tossing the phone out the window.

Sarah tossed her phone still laughing. It was kind of cute. Casey was becoming a real boy. Now all they needed to do was find him a lady. She thought with a laugh. Maybe one of Ellie's doctor friends?

She sighed, as she rolled her shoulders. She'd been on the road for over eight hours and she was looking at another twenty-five to get to D.C. she just needed to do another eleven tonight before she found a whorebag motel and caught a few hours of sleep. Then she just had to do fifteen hours the next day and break into Carina's house. She needed to convince Carina to help her sneak into the Pentagon to see General Stanfield. They had just one night to plan, and execute a mission to get in to one of the most secure places in the world. They needed to meet Major Snow outside of a bar tomorrow night. He would give them two uniforms and two fake ids. She had the money in the trunk for the hand off. But she needed be very careful. If she was caught, she was done for. It was over. She just needed to keep driving. Man she hated this car. It was nothing like her Porsche. She should have kept the mustang. When she left that hotel this morning she caught a taxi to a used car dealership. She looked over the selection and settled on a white 2005 Chevy Impala. The car had no style, the seats were uncomfortable, and it had no power. She was also sure it had spent some time as a cop car. The back seats didn't match the front seats and there was an odd shaped hole in the dashboard. But non of that mattered. What mattered was she blended in with the traffic. She was just another car on the road. She had her hair tied up and she bought a big white sun hat and big old people sunglasses. That combined with her white Chanel suit and white low heeled pumps made her look unrecognizable. When she stopped for gas she would act like a grandmother. With out any makeup on and holding her bottom lip out she looked nothing like her self. She sighed again and reached into the bag on the seat next to her. If she was going to be stuck in this hell hole of a car then she was going to enjoy the experience by eating junk food. She grabbed a bar of milk chocolate and took a big bite.

She turned the air conditioner up and popped in the next CD. Chuck being the thoughtful man that he was knew she was going to be stuck in a crap car for a very long time so he made her a stack of CD's with different themed mixes. The first two consisted of Queens greatest hits, and the best of 80's new wave. Both were really good. Chuck definitely had an ear for mix tapes. ACDC's Highway to hell came on and she looked at the back of the sleeve the title read: so you made it to the third CD? You must really hate this drive by now. The track list consisted of great driving songs. She smiled a sad little smile she wished Chuck was here with her. He would love a road trip like this. Turing up the sound she sang along. "I'm on a highway to hell! Highway to hell!" she sang spraying chocolate spittle on the dashboard. She popped a red bull and bobbed her head to the beat and for the first time during this trip she was having fun.

Chuck ordered them diner and they eat it on the couch watching Finding Nemo and Wall-E. Both were good movies and Melissa relaxed and opened up a little. She let herself laugh and she let Chuck put his head in her lap again so she could put ice on his face. At the end of the night. Chuck stood up and stretched. "Well it's way past my bed time. You take the bed I'll take the couch." Chuck said.

"Don't be silly the bed's big enough for the both of us." She said with a vapid giggle.

"Okay." Chuck said with a sigh as he stripped down to his boxers and tee-shirt. And Melissa, true to form stripped down to her black silk thong, and nothing else. Chuck took one look at her and smiled sadly. She really needed to learn how to seduce someone. Instead of slowly taking her clothes off to tease him she tossed them off like they were on fire. Instead of sexy lingerie that left something to the imagination, she was naked. He did have to admit she was a gorgeous woman. She was tall and curvy with huge perky breasts, a flat stomach, and tight round butt. But all he could think about was how very unprepared she was, even for him. If he was a real agent and his mission was to break her down and get information from her he would have it by now.

But he needed to slow play her. He couldn't have her thinking he was not interested, but he couldn't cheat on Sarah. Yes he gave her a big speech about them being agents first and married second for this mission, but he couldn't do it. In fact standing there looking at this beautiful woman he was not aroused in the slightest. He didn't want her to know that. so he went to the bathroom. He knew he was going to have to go out there and play her. He knew she was going to push him. She was going to test how far she could go. Test the fact that he was hot for her. That he wanted to be with her. The only way to keep his boxers on tonight was to put her out like he did in the car. He would have to start from Level one and keep going till she passed out. He hoped he wouldn't have to go too far, but it was all up to her. He needed her to believe he was into it. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and saw the white cord around his neck. He pulled it out of his shirt and looked at Sarah's ring. He grasped it between his two hands and closed his eyes. Her words form this morning came back to him. Sexy, confident, badass, spy. When he opened his eyes the worry was gone. The uncertainty vanished. In their place he saw confidence and power. He kissed her ring and tucked it back under his shirt. "You are agent Charles Carmichael, super badass spy." He said to his reflection and he gained a wolfish grin. "And boy you are a baaaad man."

When he came back she was laying on top of the bed with a sexy smile. When he walked up to the bed she tried to put her hand in the fly of his boxers. He grabbed her wrist and used it to pin her down as he fell into bed on top of her. "Melissa. You really need to learn how to enjoy your time in bed. You can't just go for the prize. You have to spend some time getting there. Let me show you." He said before he kissed her. Soft at first, but it grew needy over time. He pulled back and kissed her neck. "Tell me Melissa, do you know what it feels like to be worshiped in bed? Has anyone ever focused on you and you alone?" He whispered in her ear. He felt her breath catch and he licked her ear lobe. She shivered and moaned. "Tell me Melissa do you like this?" he asked running his hand down her neck through her cleavage before stopping at her abs. He rubbed her stomach in circles ever widening until his finger tips grazed the top of her panties. She gasp when they did and he stopped. She bucked her hips to get him to keep rubbing but he refused. "You didn't tell me. Tell me Melissa." he whispered.

"I like it! Please keep going!" She gasped out.

"Tell me what you want Melissa." He said as he kissed his way around her neck.

"I want you to touch me," She gasped. Chuck moved his hand down and rubbed her sex through her silk panties. She shook and shivered. He kissed down her chest to her left nipple and sucked it into his mouth. She cried out and came. But she started to pull at the hem of his shirt.

"No. not yet." he said moving aside the crotch of her panties and rubbing her clit roughly and sending twitches through her whole body. "You don't get to touch me tonight. This is all about you Melissa. Tell me what you want." he commanded and she shook again.

"Please. I want you. I need you." she said grasping at his boxers.

"I said No! You don't get it tonight." he said shoving two fingers into her violently and rubbing her clit. He needed to maintain control like Sarah showed him. She was convulsing and sobbing. He bit her nipple and rubbed her clit roughly sending her over again.

"Please Charles, I need you." She cried out between gasps.

"You really don't understand who's in charge here do you?" He asked before pinching her clit and nipple at the same time he bit her ear lobe. Making her cum so hard she passed out. He lifted her up a bit and pulled the blanket out from under her he then tossed it over her naked, sweaty, body. She moaned and rolled over shivering. He bent over her. "Who's in charge Melissa?" he growled.

"You are." She moaned contentedly. Falling back to sleep.

Chuck walked into the bathroom, knelt down on the tile floor, and puked his guts up. Even when there was nothing left he still dry heaved for a few minutes more. He went to wipe his mouth but stopped when he smelled her on his hand. He felt his stomach lurch again but instead of throwing up a choked sob rolled out of his mouth. He stood by the sink and washed his hand in steaming hot water but he couldn't get rid of the smell. It was in his clothes, in his hair, in his very skin. He reeked of her citrus perfume, and her sex. He stripped off his shirt and boxers before crawling into the shower. He stood under the hot, steaming water and scrubbed his body with the bar of soap until his skin was raw. The whole time he cried guilty tears. He killed the water when it got cold and put on a bath robe. He look in the mirror and saw his tear stained eyes looking back at him. He closed his eye and felt sick again. He reached for Sarah's ring but stopped himself. He didn't get comfort, not from her ring, not after what he just did. No he didn't deserve it. Not now, not ever. He walked out of the bathroom and sat on the couch. He didn't know what to do with himself. He knew on one level he was just completing a mission. On the other hand he just rounded second base with a woman that was not his wife. He sat there for another hour before falling asleep sitting up.


	9. Chapter 9

Chuck sat on the couch in the home theater room at the Buy More. The lights were dimmed and the curtains were closed. Music started playing on the sound system. It was soft and sensual. A black stocking incased leg capped with a black spiked high heel shoe appeared through the curtains. On the next beat Sarah danced into the room wearing a nerd herd uniform. Well most of a nerd herd uniform anyways. Her shirt was way too small. So small only the bottom three buttons were fastened. The rest were open reveling a black bra trimmed in red lace struggling to hold back the swell of her perfect chest. Her tie was more of a gray silk dog collar. Her skirt was so short the tops of her thigh high stockings were showing. "Welcome to the nerd herd. Do you have a computer problem?" she asked in a seductive voice as she grinded to the music. "Is it a hard drive problem? Or maybe you're having trouble with your RAM? Would you like me to test your RAM?" she asked falling into his lap and grinding her ass on his crotch. She took his hands and slid them around her waist before raising them to her breasts. "Is your drive hard. I can make it hard Chuck." she said spinning in his lap and sliding to the floor. "Can I play with your laptop?" she asked as she unbuckled his belt. and unsnapped his pants. "Would you like that Chuck? Would you like me to test how hard your fan blows? I'm good at blowing." she said as she pulled his zipper down. As her mouth engulfed him he groaned, she was being very rough with him today, but it was still very good. She rolled her tongue, he flinched, and she bit down. As the pain shot through him Chuck bolted out of his seat and tripped on something. He rolled over to see Melissa sitting on the floor in front of the couch. He looked down and saw he was sticking out of his robe. He blushed

"Did I hurt you Charles? I'm usually very good but when you moved I moved. I'm so sorry." she said close to tears.

Chuck figured out what happened, and felt sick to his stomach again. "I need to use the bathroom. If you will excuse me please." he said as he walked into the bathroom. When he shut the door he felt the tears again. "Come on Chuck, pull your shit together man. After last night there is no going back. You all but fucked her last night what's a blowjob this morning?" but Chuck felt his stomach lurch. "I have to stop this now. I can't keep this going. I'm no Charles Carmichael. I'm Chuck." He said. He walked out of the bathroom to find Melissa still on the floor crying. He pulled her onto the couch and held her in a tight hug. "Hey what's wrong?" he asked in a soothing voice.

As a side note, later in life he would label that soothing tone of voice his: "My baby girl is crying, I need to fix it." voice. Their daughter, Mary, who was the mirror image of Sarah, would label it the "I want something and I can make my daddy get it for me." Voice, and Sarah knew it too. It would be a source of many future arguments between her and Chuck. Especially when in twenty years from now he goes out and buys her a brand new pink convertible Mercedes coupe for her sweet sixteen. But that was in the future.

"I suck at life!" She cried out between sobs.

"What are you talking about?" He asked rubbing her back.

"I was too dumb to get into college, so I tried to join the army like the rest of my family, but I was crappy at that too. Then the NSA offered me a job, and I almost failed out of agent training! Now I'm just used as a hooker and I can't even do that right!" She wailed burying her head in his chest.

"I'm sure there's something you're good at. No one can be crap at everything. It's impossible." He said. "Come on, lets think about it. Is there a special skill or talent you have? You like to dance right? Let me put on some clothes and we can dance. How about that?" he asked. Standing up and going to the dresser by the bed. He found white tee-shirts and boxers. The next draw had pairs of jeans and slacks. He grabbed a pair of boxer shorts and tossed his robe on the bed he was just bending over to put his legs in when he heard a wolf whistle from behind him. Be blushed red and remembered she was still in the room. But then he thought about it. It's not like he had something now that she didn't see a little while ago so he shrugged and continued to dress. He walked over to the radio and found a smooth jazz station and pulled her up off the couch. He put her arms on his shoulders and his hands on her waist and swayed them around the room for a few minutes. As she relaxed into him her head ended up on his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Thank you Charles I needed this. It's been a long time since I just danced. Just held someone and let the music take me away." She whispered.

"Chuck." He corrected softly.

"Chuck?" She asked wrinkling her brow.

"My friends call me Chuck." he said with a small smile.

"Chuck, I can trust you right?" She asked softly.

Chuck felt his chest tighten. This was his make or break moment as far as he was concerned. He was about to lie to this girl. Tell her she could trust him when he knew he was playing her. This was the moment Sarah told him would haunt his nightmares for a long time. 'it's never the people you kill, it's always the people you use, then burn, that haunt you Chuck, I've got eight years of faces staring back at me when I close my eyes. The only thing I can tell you is that it gets easer over time. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I know that the nightmares aren't so bad when I'm with you.' she told him and he believed her. He always did when it came to things like this but no matter what someone tells you, you don't know till it happens. He felt the ring around his neck and nodded. Looking up at her he locked eyes with her, "Yes, Melissa. You can trust me." He said and he felt something in his chest hurt.

He thought about what he just said and tried to rationalize the hurt he was going to put her through when she found out he lied to her. Used her to get what he wanted. Used, his jaw clinched when he thought about that word. Used. That's what the NSA did to her. Used her. And now he was going to do the same thing, but what he was going to do was way worse. The NSA used her body, he was going to use her Trust. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't do it to her. He watched Sarah do this all the time, play a mark to get what they needed, and he never felt bad for them, not once. They were all bad guys. If anything he felt bad that his Sarah had to even talk to those guys. But Melissa was different. Innocent in a way. She had nowhere to go, she was lost in a spy world that did nothing but take, and she needed a friend. He would help her. But first he needed her to understand what was going on, and the part she played in a plot to stop a rogue intelligence group from taking over the world. He needed her to trust him completely, and that started by trusting her the same way. The part of him that was Charles Carmichael was telling him this was a bad idea. Telling him to stick to the plan. Telling him he needed to use this girl to get the job done and to suck it up. But he couldn't. as much as he liked Carmichael when his life was in danger and he needed to act the agent part he did not like him at times like this. So he ignored him and went with his Chuck gut.

"You can trust me because I'm going to give you something that was denied to you from the start. I'm going to trust you with a secret so big that only a handful of people know it. After I tell you this secret I'm going to tell you my mission. And then I going to ask you a question. The answer to that question could lead to the end of the world as we know it." Chuck said pulling her tighter to his chest.

"Chuck your confusing me. What are you talking about?" She asked.

"This whole thing. The running away, the new handler, meeting you, even the interrogation last night. They are all the opening moves of a plan to stop a rogue intelligence group from taking over the world. You know this group as Fulcrum. I know you know this group because you're a member of this group." Chuck said and her felt her tense up. "Melissa I don't know why you joined them, I don't know what you've done for them, and I don't care. As far as I'm concerned you're just a girl that got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. You're innocent in my eyes. Unless you tell me you're a Fulcrum master mind, I'm more then willing to let any and all transgressions go. In fact even if you did do something bad I can get you a Presidential pardon. I can do that, but only if my mission is a success." He said softly.

"I haven't done anything for them really. I attended a few parties, I played escort for a few VIPs. I was their whore, just like I am for the NSA." She said in tears, as sobs rocked her body. Chuck lead her to the couch and sat her in his lap.

"Shh, it's okay. I believe you. We will get you through this. But I need your help." he said softly.

"What are you talking about? What do you need me to do? I have no skills. I can't even…"she trailed off as he shook his head.

"We've been over this before. You're not useless. I just told you your decisions could spell the end of the world. Now I don't know how you define importance, but that seams very important to me." he said with a laugh.

"What could I possibly have to decide that could end the world Chuck? I don't think any one person can have that much power." she said.

"Okay, how about I tell you everything I need to tell you, then we'll see about that?" he asked with an honest smile. He needed to get her through this and get her on his side.

"Okay, I'm listening." she said.

"First of all the secret, to prove I trust you. Have you ever heard of the Intersect?" He asked an she nodded with wide eyes. "I'm the Intersect." he said with a shy smile.

"No Way! How does it work? How do you use it? Dose this mean you're some kind of machine?" she asked excitedly.

"No I'm still human. Think of it like this, the brain is a huge super computer. And all of your memories are files on the computer. The Intersect is like a big file full of information. Do you follow that?" he asked and she nodded. "Okay now I'm going to tell you about the mission. Lets start with Charles Carmichael. He doesn't exist. I made him up. Oh I did all the things in the file. I just didn't look nearly as cool doing them as it might seam. I guess it all started about a year and a half ago at my birthday party of all things. An old college buddy of mine sent me an e-mail…"

And so over the next six hours, pausing only for breakfast and lunch, he told her his story. He told her about how he went on missions with Sarah and Casey. He told her the truth story of how he screamed like a girl every time he heard gun fire. He told her how he came up with his update to the Intersect. "So you can download skills right into your head?" She asked him.

"Yeah. It's pretty easy to do really. Well for me anyways, but I think I have messed up brain chemistry." Chuck said with a shrug.

"Do you think you could do the same with me? Then maybe I can go on missions. Real missions, that require more then me hopping into bed with different men all the time." She asked with hope shining in her eyes.

"I don't see way not? In fact you would be a pretty good test subject. Maybe when this is all over we can test it. I would love to have you on my team. With or without the Intersect. The problem is that no one gave you the training you deserved. You had a problem at the shooting rang and instead of helping you they gave up. The same can be said for all of your training. I think with a little work you could be a great spy." he said reassuringly.

"You think?" she asked with a sad smile.

"I do. But that doesn't mean we can't add a few skills. I plan on adding as many as I can to myself. I want to be the human Swiss army knife of my team. We already have two of the best agents in the world, I want to be the guy that fills in the few things they can't do. And hey if there are two of us think about how cool the team will be then? What do you say? Would you like to be the female Charles Carmichael?" He asked with a smirk.

"That would be so cool. I really want that. I want to be a part of the team, what do I have to do?" She asked excitedly.

"Well we come to the part of the discussion that involves you, and the part we need you to play. We need you to get in contact with someone form Fulcrum. Tell them the truth. You are working with Charles Carmichael. He wants out of the CIA. He has a working knowledge of the Intersect and it's programming. He also knows where Bryce Larkin is and he would like nothing moor then to see him dead. We will get you a packet of information to give them if they don't jump at this. Tell them I will only join them if I can talk to someone in charge. Tell them I can get their Intersect working. Then tell them the only way to get me out is during the transport back to Burbank. If they want to talk to me, tell them you can sneak a cell phone in here. We need you to do this today. If it all goes according to plan they will hit the transport and take me and you with them. I will fake killing Casey. Once we get to the Fulcrum base you can get in touch with Casey. Meet with him and work with him. We can talk to him when he comes to get me for today's interrogation. Today is all about hugging and making up. Today Beckman is going to try and talk me down. Her goal is going to be to get me to come back to the team. I'll agree to work with Casey again to get the ball rolling on the transport back to Burbank. I'll request small things for my acceptance, so that it doesn't look obvious. Stuff like the title agent, and a salary. I'll also admit that it was rash to run away. Sarah is going to take some heat in this. I feel really bad about it, almost as bad as I did last night." he said deep in thought, so deep he didn't see the hurt flash across her face.

"Almost as bad as last night?" she asked in a thick voice.

"What?" he asked coming out of his thoughts.

"Almost as bad as last night?" she asked as tears pooled in her green eyes.

"I um. You see last night was my first, um seduction mission. I was supposed to seduce you. I um. I didn't want to, I. oh to hell with it. I'm Married to Sarah for real. We love each other and I was supposed to seduce you into making the call but I can't do it. I can't cheat on her. I never cheated in my whole life and I can't start now. Last night, what I did to you. It made me sick. I can't." he said crying.

"Hey, I understand. I felt horrible after the first time too, but it gets easier with time." She said rubbing his back.

"It's not that, I felt like scum. Lower than that even. And I don't know what Sarah will say. I mean I know what she'll say. She'll be fine with it. In fact I did a lot less then she thought I would do. But I feel absolutely horrible about what we did. Don't get me wrong you are one of the hottest women I've ever met but I, well, last night I threw up everything and scrubbed my body raw and I still feel, I don't know? If we had meet under different circumstances I would have given anything for what you were offering me last night. As it is I just feel like I betrayed everything I believe in." Chuck said.

"She will understand Chuck. Hell I was the one who was being played, and I understand. Chuck, what happened last night. It was nothing. Trust me. Sarah Walker will laugh it off. She'll be happy the man she loves couldn't do it. That he rounded second base and puked his guts up. And Chuck I'm not leaving you with Fulcrum by yourself. I can come and go as I please, I'm a trusted call girl, I mean agent to them, especially after I get you in with them. Chuck I can be your contact with Casey! We can feed them the same cover story that we're together, hell you could even say that keeping me as entertainment is part of the deal. I can go out and meet Casey during the day. Get any orders, or information they need you to know. Then at night I can come back to you and let you know what they told me." She said with excitement.

"So in essence you would be a beautiful, leggy, redheaded carrier pidgin?" He asked with a smirk.

"No you silly man you! I'd be your inside man. Well woman. But you know what I mean. If anything goes bad I can be your backup. Once you get the Intersect working upload me like you did yourself. That way if we have to shoot our way out I can help. As it is now I can barely hit a paper target at ten feet." She said with a big smile.

Chuck was just about to tell her he liked her idea when the door banged open and Casey stormed in. "Move it Jackass! The integration room is waiting!" He said grabbing Chuck by the front of his shirt. And pulling him off the couch.

"Cool it big guy we had a change of plans!" He said grabbing Casey's arm for support.

"What?" Casey asked in a confused voice. While helping Chuck stay on his feet.

"Instead of using Melissa I read her in. I just couldn't do it Casey. Not to Sarah and not to Melissa. So I brought her onboard, she's going to make the call while we're in the interrogation room and she came up with the idea that I should keep her as entertainment while in the Fulcrum base. She can be my backup. She agreed to carry information back and fort between us while I'm on the inside. I'm going to Intersect her the same way I did myself so we can make it out if we have to." Chuck said.

"How do we know we can trust her?" Casey asked eyeing Melissa.

"You can trust her because I trust her." Chuck said "and that should be good enough."

"Okay but if she turns you in to Fulcrum, and they mess with your brain, then I wont stop Walker form killing your new girlfriend." Casey said with a shrug. "We still have to get into the integration room. Beckman will be on the screen this time and I'm close to being put out of the room. I think just a few smacks today." Casey said with a sad smile.

"It's cool big guy, remember I came up with this Idea. We need to make her more malleable." Chuck said rubbing his bruised cheek.

"Yeah I'm sorry about that son. I had to sell it." Casey said with a little shrug, but Chuck knew he was feeling bad about yesterday.

"Think nothing of it, and besides I get to shoot you tomorrow. Are you sure about the whole not wearing a vest thing? You know I could kill you if I miss by just a few inches right? I agree that they need to see blood but can't we use like ketchup packets?" Chuck said nervously.

"Relax. And remember what we practiced. You can do this. Hell you're one of only two people in the whole world I would let shoot me. I know you can do it son. Now lets quit the jaw jacking we need to move!" He said, and Chuck stood by the door with his hands behind his back. Casey perp. walked him to the interrogation room and tossed him into the chair. Beckman was on the TV screen.

"Easy Major! Chuck, how are you doing today?" She asked in what Chuck thought was honest concern.

"I'm good." Chuck said and Casey smacked him across the face sending him off the chair and into a heep on the floor.

"She is a General for God's sake! You will address her as Ma'am, or General!" Casey yelled.

"That is enough! Major leave the room Right NOW!" She yelled standing up from her seat. Casey snapped to attention and saluted her before marching out of the room. "Chuck are you okay?" She asked.

"Yes Ma'am. I just have to wait till the room stops spinning before I try and stand up." Chuck said shaking his head.

"Take your time Chuck. Major Casey was out of line. I'm very sorry Chuck." She said.

Chuck smiled two Chucks in the same sentence? He knew he had her now. "That's okay General. I dissevered it for running away like I did. I am very sorry about that Ma'am. I don't know why I did it in the first place. I should have stayed where I was and did my job. It's what a good agent does. They follow orders, and even though I'm not an agent I need to start acting like one if I'm going to be useful Ma'am." Chuck said in a broken voice.

"Chuck I know why you ran away. And the truth is I sometimes forget your not an agent. Well I know your not an agent. The random comments during briefings are a blinding reminder of that. But I forget you're not trained. You're laying your life on the line everyday and we don't pay you for it, in fact I'm sad to say I ordered your termination the night Gram died. We treat you like an asset and then turn around and make you do the work of an agent. So I think it's only fitting that we give you a title to go along with all of the responsibilities we put on you. For now on your title is agent Charles Carmichael. You will also be paid like an agent. I took the liberty of setting up a secure bank account in the name of Charles Carmichael, and deposited a year and a half of back pay into it this morning. At this time I would like to offer you my sincerest apology for the way you have been treated. By agent Walker, and Major Casey, but mostly by me. I am very Sorry Chuck. And for the record Major Casey went way too far with you. His use of force was out of line." She said with a sad smile on her face.

It was the first time Chuck had ever remembered her looking so animated. In fact he felt bad about lying to her about the mission, but for him to get in with Fulcrum he needed them to fall for his plan. He didn't know who could access this feed, but he didn't want to take any chances. By tomorrow night she would be read in on the mission and he, hopefully, would be alive and working on the Fulcrum Intersect.

"Thank you very much Ma'am, that's very generous of you. I always felt honored to be doing the work we did, but it's nice to be acknowledged for it. I know that the situation we find ourselves in is not ideal. I know the Intersect was supposed to go into an agent like Bryce Larkin, not some underachieving nerd like me. But this is the hand we were dealt and I want to make the best of it." He said coming to stand at attention. "I hope to live up to the title of agent. I know there is a level of honor that comes with that title and you can expect a new level of maturity from me. I am no longer under the illusion that I'm in love with Sarah Walker. I know this because the second we tried to make it work she ran away. I do feel it is my responsibility as her former teammate to speak on her behalf though. I don't think she was in her right mind when we left Burbank, or for the last year for that matter. She has spent so long moving around and being an agent that she lost focus on what was real and what was her job. If I had known what I do now I would have seen it for what it was. I would like to request the kill order on agent Walker be rescinded. She's not rouge, she's just a little lost Ma'am." Chuck said.

"The order has already been rescinded. We are just looking for her now. There has to be some disciplinary action for going AWAL but I agree with you. We need to get her back so we can get her some counseling maybe?" Beckman said. "As for you, I think we can call you punished. To tell you the truth I just want your team back in the field. You've been offline for a week and I honestly feel like the country is less safe." She said with small smile.

"I am both honored and just as disturbed as you are Ma'am to think that I'm what's keeping this country safe. I must request that Sarah be reassigned. I don't think our team can go back to what it used to be. I have been spending time with this new handler agent Barns. She's a little rough around the edges, but I think it might be a good team building experience for us to train together. I also think it would be a way to punish Major Casey for his use of excusive force Ma'am." Chuck said with a straight face. It was his calm face that made the General smile.

"Very good idea Chuck! In fact why don't you call the Major back into the room so we can tell him about his new role as the team trainer." She said with a sadistic smile.

Chuck opened the door and gave Casey a wide eyed innocent stare "Major the General would like a word with you." He said in a voice filled with mirth. Casey walked in and stood at attention.

"Major it's been decided that agent Barns will stay on the team and to help with the new team dynamic it was suggested that you bring both agents Carmichael and Barns up to speed as far as agent training goes. I have every confidence in your undying patience, and dedication to your teammates. I expect to see a marked improvement in their skills." She said menacingly.

Melissa walked out of the office building and pulled out her iPhone she turned it off and put it in her purse before pulling out her second cell phone. This one was a Blackberry. She hit speed dial one and waited for her handler to answer. "Stone, secure."

"Barns, Secure. I have a priority one recruiting hopeful." She said.

"Name and rank?"

"Special Agent Charles Carmichael, CIA."

"Hold one." He said, she could here typing in the background. Then she heard what sounded like 'Holy Shit!' before she heard fumbling with the phone. "I want you to call this number, take it down," She pulled out a pen and small notebook. "(818) 555-6104. I want you to say priority one recruit. I then want you to say Black Arrow 6834. Than I want you to answer any and all questions they ask. Barns, the person you are going to speak to is one of the highest ranking members of Fulcrum. You will show them the same respect you show to the Pope. I want you to be as honest and open with them as you can be. If you land this guy you can expect to be given a lot of respect form the organization. That is all. Make the call." he then hung up.

She punched in the number and someone picked up on the second ring. "Report!"

"I have a priority one recruit, Black Arrow 6834." She said before holding her breath. She needed this to work, she needed to prove herself to the team. And if she was honest with herself she needed to prove to herself that she was in fact an agent and not a call girl. That she could do something more then entertain assets.

She was starting to panic when she heard a click and a phone being picked up. "This is Fulcrum Command. What can you tell me about agent Charles Carmichael?" asked the person on the other end of the call.

Melissa was sure she peed a little when she heard him say Fulcrum Command. "Well I was brought in on a ten man NSA search team tasked to find two CIA agents that went AWAL together. One of them was Carmichael, the other one was Sarah Walker, the Enforcer. They ran away together. We found them after four days because they got married in Vegas under the name Carmichael on New Years Eve. When we got to the MGM he was sitting at a Black Jack table hitting on an older woman and drinking scotch. He was very calm when we approached him and when asked where Walker was he said she left him. I'm guessing she freaked out and pulled a runner sometime during the night. I was assigned as his new handler and entertainment. Carmichael is very angry with the CIA, and is also very angry with Walker. He has been using me for revenge sex. I have to admit I don't mind at all. During one of these sessions he let slip that he would be interested in quitting the agency. I gave him the Fulcrum pitch and he said he could give two shits about Fulcrum's cause, he just wants revenge. I asked him what he had to offer and that's when I knew I had to call it in. He worked on the Intersect sir. He says he helped encode some of it and he was working on downloading it into the brain. He says he might knows where Bryce Larkin is." She said excitedly.

"Calm down agent Barns. You said he doesn't really care too much for our group. Dose that mean he has any demands?" Asked the Commander.

"I don't know sir. I know he would very much like to talk to someone in charge. He was also very interested in killing Bryce Larkin. I don't know what the guy did to him but he sure as hell wants him dead." She said.

"In your opinion agent Barns, Can we trust him?" He asked.

"I think he's on the level sir. He's very smart and he sounds like he knows what he's talking about. I think he can deliver the goods for a few small things in return." She said.

"I would love to talk to him. His file is most impressive. His talents as a field agent alone would get him a meeting with me, but to have knowledge of the intersect too? I have to talk to him. Can you set it up?" He asked.

"I wish I could, he's being held at a NSA bunker in the Nevada desert until he talks with his commander. But I think I have a plan on how we can brake him out. They're going to transport him back to Burbank tomorrow afternoon. I think we can ambush the transport and snatch him." She said.

"Very good. When your on the road I want you to turn on your phone and we will use it to track you. I will see you tomorrow night agent Barns." He said before killing the connection.

Chuck and Casey were headed to his room when Melissa walked up to them in the hall. Chuck took one look at her pale complexion and shaking hands and knew something was wrong. He took her in his arms and hugged her close. "What's going on?" He asked her softly.

"I just got off the phone with Fulcrum Command. He agreed to break you out just like you planed. Chuck I've never been so scared in my life! What if I had screwed it up? What if he didn't believe me? I could have let you down, hell I could have let down the whole team!" She said hysterically.

"Shhhh. Melissa calm down. Come on, that's it. Just breath. Good. Now look at me. I had every faith in you. I knew you could do it. That's why I asked you to do it in the first place. You know how much is at stake here. Do you think I would give you such an important task if I didn't think you could do it? Come on Melissa you're getting all worked up for no reason. Now we can't walk into the room at the same time. Go on ahead and we'll be right behind you in a minute. Go ahead. Make yourself a drink and sit on the couch. I promise to dance with you later tonight." Chuck said pulling back from her and turning her towards the room.

She walked away from them on unsteady feet but the further she got the more sure her footing became. When she was out of sight Casey turned to Chuck. "You just made all of that shit up didn't you?" He asked.

"Oh yah. To tell you the truth I didn't think they would put her through to Fulcrum Command. This is working out way better then I thought it would. Lets go see what she learned." Chuck said as Casey finished perp. walking him back to his room. When they got there Melissa was laying on the couch sipping a glass of scotch. "How do you feel now, any better?" He asked as he lifted up her feet and sat down. He then dropped her shoes on the floor and her left foot in his lap while he rubbed the ball of her right foot.

"Oh that feels good. You can just keep on doing that right there." She said dropping her head on the arm rest and letting her eyes roll back in her head.

"Did you learn anything?" Casey asked taking a seat on the black coffee table, and ignoring the byplay between them.

"Yes. I got the phone number for Fulcrum Command, I also got a code word. I don't know what it means but I wrote them down in my notebook. Casey can you hand me my purse. I'd get it myself but Chuck kind of has magical hands and if I let him keeps this up I might not be able to stand up." She said in a husky whisper.

Casey picked up the purse and handed it to her. He just shook his head at what she said.

"We've been over this before I can't cheat on Sarah." Chuck said.

"This is not cheating. This is the best foot massage I've ever had. Is this how you got Sarah?" She sighed out as he switched feet right before she was about to ask him. It was like he knew what she wanted before she even did. If he wasn't so in love with Sarah she would be all over him. She hoped this Sarah Walker woman treated him good because if not she was more then willing to take him off her hands.

"No I got Sarah with my charming smile and girly screams." Chuck said working a knot on the heel of her dainty little foot.

"Well if you want her to be your sex slave forever you treat her to one of these massages. I know I would do anything you asked me to right now." she said as she fished out her notebook and tore out the page. She handed it to him and sighed sadly when he stopped rubbing her foot. But a few seconds later she was reworded with a tight hug and a soft little kiss on the cheek.

"Melissa you did great! I'm so proud of you! Casey your going to have to call Sarah and let her know we need to amend the plan again." He said laying Melissa back down and went back to working her foot. "Casey I know who Fulcrum Command is and it's going to make the rest of this mission and the rest of our lives very easy. And all the thanks goes to Melissa. What ever you want it's yours. I think I owe you a dance or ten." he said working on her tight calf. "Casey, Fulcrum Command is Ted Roark, and when we're done with this mission I think I will take over as CEO of Roark Industries. I think it's a more fitting cover then the buy more, don't you? Plus I'm going to need a head of security. What do you say Casey, would you like to fund our future counter terrorist team with a rouge intelligence group's money?" Chuck asked with a laugh. "I'm not going to be put in some bunker, I'm going to get office space in Roark Industries. "


	10. Chapter 10

Sarah had been driving for the last fifteen hours she stayed south for most of the trip, taking advantage of the warmer weather, but about six hours ago she had started to head north and now she was in the middle of a snow storm as she crossed into Washington D.C. About an hour ago she had stopped off at a gas station to change out of her old lady get up and into mission blacks. She was now sporting a pair of knee high leather boots, a pair of tight jeans and a wool sweater. She also pulled her hair back and put on a ski cap. She turned off the expressway and drove around looking for Carina's new place. She wasn't surprised in the slightest that Carina was staying at a very expensive brown stone town house. What was surprising was her name was on the lease. Carina didn't believe in collecting things. She was always on missions and when she wasn't she was squatting in very nice houses. She only owned about a dozen very expensive bra and g-string sets, a few pairs of jeans, two bikinis, and a few shirts. The rest of her possessions consisted of six cocktail dresses so small they were inappropriate for more then Seduction mission and picking up men in bars, and two nickel plated Glock 19's. Seeing as she was a size zero it all fit into one small Massonite suitcase. She didn't know what was sadder. The fact that Carina still lived like that, or that she herself used to be the same way up until she moved to Burbank.

A sad smile formed on her face when she thought about the still meager amount of possessions she owned now. If she was honest with herself she would admit that all of her things could fit into three small suitcases. Not a lot of stuff considering the amount of time she lived there but at least it was more then she used to have. She drove by the house and saw the lights on. She stopped a block away from the townhouse and looked at the clock on the dash. It read a little after nine. She had just under three hours to subdue Carina, and convince her to help her with her mission before she needed to meet with Casey's contact.

She parked and got out of her crap car. She pulled a black cashmere scarf around her neck and a full length black wool coat around her shoulders. She walked the block to Carina's at a casual pace. Taking stock in the very nice neighborhood. She walked past the house on the opposite side of the street and saw the lamp in the living room was on. She crossed the street and made her way to the small back yard next to Carina's house. From there she hopped the fence and ditched her coat on the back deck. She pulled the scarf up to just under her eyes and climbed up the side of the building using the window frames. She used a small knife to pry open the window lock. She slipped into what looked like a guest bedroom and shut the window behind her. She ghosted to the door and saw no light under it. She cracked it open and saw the hallway was empty. She slipped out of the room and crouched by the stairs. She saw Carina laying on a couch in a pair of red panties and an open red silk robe reading a book. She pulled her gun and ghosted down the stairs sticking to the shadows cast by the banisters of the hand rail. When she got to the bottom she front rolled across the floor coming up in the middle of the room with her gun pointed at Carina's face. Carina looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow at her. "Are we done playing ninja now, Sarah?" She asked with an eye roll.

"How did you know it was me?" She asked pulling down her scarf.

"Chuck emailed me a few hours ago and said he was going to come see me. I was hoping he wanted to finish what I started a year ago. As you can see I was waiting for him to show up. But I guess you'll do, come on I'm horny as hell sitting here waiting." She said tossing the book on the floor.

"Put your tits away, I'm not interested and I need to talk to you." Sarah said as she walked through the open kitchen and retrieved her coat for the back deck. When she got back Carina hadn't moved to cover up, in fact it looked like she sat up and opened the robe more. "I'm serious, put your little titties away. I need to have a real talk with you." Sarah said taking a seat in the armchair next to the couch.

"Little! You used to like my tits." She said closing the robe.

"We had sex one time! And it was at the Farm, for a Seduction class. And for the record, I always thought you were flat." Sarah said making a face, she had never really been attracted to women. But the truth of the matter was until Chuck on the plane last week, Carina had been her most skilled lover. Say what you want about the skank, but she knew what she was doing.

"How dare you! We can't all be big Amazon bitches like you. What do you want anyways? Like I said I was expecting your boyfriend tonight. Not you." Carina said crossing her arms and pouting.

"What are you talking about? Chuck e-mailed you? When? And did he say he was coming over for, you know?" Sarah said pointing at her lack of clothes.

"Chuck e-mailed me at a secure ghost address. He said he was going to be in the D.C. area and he wanted to meet me tomorrow. So I gave him my address and told him I was looking forward to it. Then he hit up two days ago and moved the date up one day." She said with a smirk.

"He didn't tell me about any of this, he just said you would be here and gave me your address." Sarah said

"Now that you asked your questions can I ask a few?" Carina asked and Sarah nodded. "Why are you AWAL? Did you really run away with Chuck? And why was there a kill order out on you and how did you make it go away?" Carina asked.

"The short answer, to have the future I want. Yes. And it's all part of the plan." Sarah said with a straight face. They both started laughing. "All joking aside I need your help on a covert mission tomorrow. It's off the books and highly illegal. I have a meeting with a contact in two and a half hours. Until then I think I can get you up to speed with what's going on. I guess it all started with Chuck being held hostage at the buy more…" and in an hour and a half she told her everything. "And right now we need to meet Casey's contact to get the package for tomorrow. You need to get dressed." Sarah said.

"Wait a minute Blondie. I didn't agree to help you. You assume I will." Carina said crossing her arms over her chest.

"No. I know you will because you owe me, and you know it." Sarah said angrily.

"Well you're wrong, I don't owe you enough to risk treason. No way in hell."

"What about the time I saved you from that assassin in Serbia? Or the time I broke you out of that prison in Chile? Or that time I killed the Rossetti twins for you. That was your job, but no, you had to go running off with that pilot! Lets face it Carina, without my help you'd be dead, tortured, or out of a job, and that was just three I can think of off the top of my head." Sarah said pacing the room like a caged tiger.

"Now don't get all high and mighty on me, I've helped you plenty of times. I will do it if for a price." Carina said with a smirk.

"You want money? Fine, but it's the last time I ever talk to you." Sarah said in disgust.

"Not money. No I want a spot on your little super spy team." Carina said as she played with her hair.

"No! in fact hell no! I can't have anyone on the team that I can't trust!"

"You can trust me, when have I ever done anything to make you not trust me?" Carina asked with an innocent look on her face.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Sarah yelled.

"Okay so I have done some things in the past, but it's all behind me now. I can be a team player. I swear. You can trust me not to mess up any missions." Carina said and for the first time that night Sarah saw fear and desperation in Carina's face. She knew there was more to this then wanting to work with them, she just had to figure it out.

"You are trying way too hard. I know there's something you're not telling me and I want to know now. Why are you so desperate to join the team?" Sarah asked and a predatory smile formed on her lips.

"There's nothing going on. I just want to work with you again. Can't a girl want to work with her oldest friend in the world?" Carina asked keeping up the innocent routine.

"Okay well my answer is no and I don't need your help anyways. You were just backup now that Chuck changed the plan from seduction to bribery and sneaking around. So I don't need your slut skills for this, I'll just go alone. I'll just be leaving now." Sarah said walking to the front door. She got all the way to the door before Carina stopped her.

"Okay you got me! I need this Sarah. They're going to take away my field status. They're busting me down to desk duty for good this time. Sarah they're going to take everything from me." Carina said hugging her self as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Sarah had known Carina for a long time. They had been through a lot of bad things together. But this was the first time she had ever seen her cry like this. She knew what she was saying. They were going to chain her to a desk, and not let her go on missions ever again. She knew what that would do to her. She would kill her self.

Where Sarah had the dream of one day starting a family and living a quite life with Chuck. Carina did not. She was a field agent. It's wasn't what she did, it's what she was. She lived off the adrenalin high. The fast cars, gun fights, and hot sex with random partners. The money and the first class flights around the world. It was what made her, well, her. Without it she would go crazy. Then it all clicked into place for her. She was expecting to sex up Chuck tonight to get assigned to the team. That's why she was all excited tonight, and why her eyes lit up when She told her about Chuck's super team. But could she trust her? To not go off script during a mission. To not put their lives in danger? But when she looked at her again she knew she could trust her. She wasn't looking at Carina Henson CIA agent on loan to the DEA. She was looking at, for maybe the first time, her friend Carina. Her friend that was at the end of her rope and needed her help.

She sighed. "Carina look at me." She said taking a set on the couch next to her. "I'll let you on the team, but only if you agree to a few things." She said looking at her crying friend. She waited until Carina wiped her face and turned to look at her. "The first thing is I'm not letting Carina Henson, supper bitch, on the team. I'm letting my friend Carina on the team. The same friend I met at the Farm. The girl that stayed with me over that first Christmas break. The girl that saw I was having trouble with the seduction class and took me out to a bar and showed me how to talk to boys for the first time. The girl I shared a room with for two years at the Farm. You're my sister Carina, in all but blood, and if you want in on the team you need to remember that. In fact I want you to forget the bitch you've been for the last ten years. That bitch died today as far as I'm concerned." Sarah said with a hint of a smile.

"I can do that, but I don't know if I can be as good of an agent without the bitch. She was responsible for keeping me alive for the last ten years." Carina said with a sad smile.

"You were a good agent before the bitch and you will be just as good without her. Plus now you have backup on missions, you don't have to go into a situation alone I'll be right there with you. The next thing I need you to know is that you will not go off book with us. The second you do I'll kick you off the team. You'll be back to pushing paper in the field office. You got me?" She asked and Carina nodded. "No, I'm sorry but I need you to say it. I need there to be no ambiguity about this. The second I think you screwed us I'm going to kick you out." Sarah said.

"I understand. I will follow orders. I wont do anything to jeopardize the mission or the team." Carina said

"Good, last but not least, I want you to listen very carefully. You will not fuck my husband! You wont touch him, seduce him, kiss him. You won't even look at him sexually. If you do I will kill you. Do you understand? Dead. I will end you. Look into my eyes and tell me I'm playing. You see Chuck showed my how to be a person again. If you take him away I lose that part of me that's normal. Once I lose that there's nothing to stop me for hurting you. You know what agent Sarah Walker would do to you." Sarah said with a deadly look in her eyes. For the first time Carina was looking not at her friend Sarah, but the woman that killed a ten man Hungarian hit squad. She was scared.

"I understand. I wont touch him. But for you to act like this means you really love him. I mean really, really, love him. Dose he know?" She asked.

"No I don't think he dose. He understands that I would kill for him, but I don't think he knows that I would start a war for him. If he was taken from me there's not a force in the world that could stop me from getting to him. I love him so much it scares me sometimes." Sarah said playing with the sleeve of her sweater.

"Wow. The great Sarah Walker is in love. Are you going to quit the spy life to be with him?" Carina asked.

"No, unfortunately I brought him in to the spy world to be with me. I don't know what to do about it. I don't know what to feel about it. On the one hand I feel very proud of him you know? That's my Chuck, untrained but still a badass spy. When he does things like disarms bombs, or flip a Chinese agent, or even Fed-ex's a diamond to the General's office. I just want to rip his clothes off sometimes you know? But then on the other hand I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach like I just took his innocence. I feel dirty, in a way I've never felt before. I know what happens to people in this business. I know how corrupted we become. Every time he does one of those things I'm proud of, the feeling gets worse. I know one day he's going to have to kill someone, and on that day I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. Because I know he wont be my Chuck anymore, and the worst part about that is I know I wanted him to be an agent. To be with me in the field. All because I can't give up being a spy. Hell he doesn't even want me to give up being a spy. What am I going to do when that day comes?" Sarah asked as tears slid down her face.

"Your going to pull yourself together right Fucking now and think like an agent. You and I both know we didn't know anything about the first person we killed. The Red Test is made that way for a reason. We're not supposed to know anything about them. We get a picture and a location. How did you feel after that happened? I'm betting horrible" Carina said standing up and pulling Sarah up the stairs. They entered a bedroom and Carina pulled off her robe and took some clothes out of a small suitcase. "Did you have anyone to talk to afterwards?" She asked as she pulled on a matching bra and a pair of black leather pants.

"No, I didn't. I called Gram and all he said was: okay. Like it was no big deal." Sarah said sitting on the bed.

"Exactly. Now think about your second kill, you knew the target. You knew what kind of a evil shit head they were. When you killed them did you feel as bad as you did the first time?" Carina asked pulling on a dark green knit top, and a pair of knee high boots with four inch spiked heels. She tossed on a leather trench coat and tied the belt.

"No I just pulled the trigger and his head exploded. I never looked back. I just did it. Then again he was a Russian mob guy that trafficked young girls into sexual slavery so he kind of had it coming." Sarah said as they made there way out the door and down the street to her crap car.

"That's what I'm trying to say. Chuck's first time wont be some random picture and a location. He'll know what kind of animal he's dealing with. When he's done. You can hold him and talk him through it. I think he'll be fine. You said he was okay with the number of people you've killed right? You said it yourself that he didn't even blink when he added it up. In fact he read your whole file, and didn't balk at anything. Let it play out and see how he reacts. If after he's made his first kill, and he freaks out then you can take him someplace quiet and take care of him till he gets over it. You said he's on a seduction mission, how is he doing with that? For some people that stuff is harder to do then the killing." Carina asked as they drove up to a roadhouse bar.

"He was okay yesterday when Casey checked in. Then this morning he couldn't go along with it. He stopped just shy of oral and read her in. A part of me is very happy that he didn't go through with it. Both as his wife and as his partner. But another part of me, the agent side, is disappointed that he trusted an enemy agent with vital information. But then I'm also proud that he flipped another enemy agent. That's two by my count. He's like an idiot savant when it comes to female agents. They all end up falling for his nice guy charms." She said looking through a spotting scoop for their contact. They had about ten minutes before the meet.

"I know. The last time I was there I tried to seduce him. I called him to my hotel room. I was dressed like I was when you walked in. I had a bra on that time. He was so nervous, he kept telling me that he should call you. He was stuttering, and sweating. But he never let me touch him. I don't remember the last time someone told me no like that. He didn't even look at my tits. He kept eye contact the whole time and ran out of the room so fast he left a smoke trail." She said laughing. Sarah had a sad little smile on her face. Her Chuck had turned down a night with Carina last year when they weren't really together. He turned her down because he knew she wouldn't like it. Her Chuck was so special. She looked through the scope again. "So what do we know about the contact?" Carina asked pulling out a small lens and attaching it to her iPhone so she could look around too.

"Major Steven Snow, Retired. Used to be NSA. He was on Casey's strike team a while back. He quit six months ago to take care of his wife and two kids. She has cancer. It's bad. The reason he needs the money is to pay for her cancer treatments. He's moving his whole family to Burbank so she can go to the hospital out there. Casey said he was very good. He said he was the best tactical heavy weapons guy he knew. The mission tonight is to get the package and feel him out for recruitment later." Sarah said looking around again. That's when she saw the guy she was looking for. He stood out in this crowd like a sore thumb. Both because he was the only black face in the area, and because he stood an impressive 6'8" tall and at least 350Lbs of pure muscle. He was wearing jeans and a pea coat, and he had a duffle bag in his hands.

"That's our guy." Sarah said pointing out the hulking man standing in the doorway.

"Oh my, I do hope he's willing to renegotiate the price. I would be willing to work off a payment plan." Carina said with a wicked smile as she eyed up the Major.

"Down bitch! He's married and Casey's friend. If you fuck up this deal I'll kill you. Chuck's life depends on this. We need the package. His wife needs to pay for her cancer treatments. We need to see if he wants to get back to work. That's all we are doing here. If you try anything I'll leave you in this parking lot and never talk to you again." Sarah said reaching into the back seat for the duffle bag with the money.

"Wow I was just joking! You don't need to get all bent out of shape you know." Carina said pouting.

"I'm not messing around. The sooner you understand that the less likely it will be that I shoot you." Sarah said. "Now get out of the car and stand over by that truck and be ready for anything. For all we know he might have sold us out." She said pulling her gun and putting it on the seat between her legs. Carina opined her door and slipped out into the night. Sarah flashed her lights and Steven turned and walked over to the car. He got into the passenger seat and placed an STI 2011 on the center of the dashboard.

"You've seen mine, lets see yours." He said in a deep baritone voice and a sad smile. Sarah nodded once and placed her gun next to his. "John told me I was going to meet a very pretty lady tonight but he didn't say how pretty. I must say John is a very lucky man."

"Yeah well he didn't tell me I was going to meet the Incredible Hulk either. He's funny like that. Sarah Walker." She said holding out her hand.

"No shit?" He asked surprised. "Major Steven Snow. Ma'am It's an honor to meet you Ma'am." He said shaking her hand.

"So Steven, what do you have for me?" She asked with an innocent smile.

"I got everything you asked for." He said unzipping the bag and showing her. "I got two female Army dress uniforms. And two full sets of credentials. One for a Major S. Bartowski, and one for a Lt. C. Henson. Also brass and bars to match. I took the liberty of including a pair of M9 sidearms. The devil's in the details remember?" He said handing over the bag.

"And I have everything you need." She said handing over her bag. "Inside is four first class tickets to Burbank, ten thousand dollars, and the lease to a nice ranch style house in a good neighborhood not too far from us. Casey will hopefully meet you at the airport in three days, if not he'll send someone else to get you guys. We also setup an appointment with the best cancer doctor in the country. He knows that we're covering all the expense." She said with a smile.

Steve looked at the brick of cash and the lease and closed his eyes. "I want you to know I would have helped John without this, but I needed it for my family. I feel bad about all of this, but I had to ask for it." He said in a voice thick with pain.

"I know Steve. So does John. We did this because it's the right thing to do. You quit the NSA to look after your family. We can all understand that. Family means everything to us now. I have one for the first time and I know I would do anything for them. Now go home and get your family packed. You have to be on the other side of the country in three days, and I'm guessing your wife can't help too much right now. When this is all over we want to offer you a job." Sarah said grabbing his shoulder.

"What kind of a job?" He asked sounding unsure for the first time. "I would do anything for John, but I draw the line at treason. In fact if I didn't know John like I do I wouldn't have got you that stuff." He said pointing at the bag.

"Relax Steve. We are putting together a taskforce to deal with the worlds worst scumbags. The really bad guys. You would be in charge of tactical situations. Just think about it, and ask John questions when you see him. Besides if this mission goes south tomorrow we wont have to worry about the taskforce." She said with a smile.

"I'll think about it. Thank you, and good luck." He said taking his gun and bag as he got out of the car and walked across the parking lot. A minute later Carina slipped into the car and they drove away.

"What's in the bag and what's the mission?" She asked.

Sarah reached into the bag and handed her the Lt. C. Henson name plate and Pentagon security badge. "Tomorrow morning, at six AM, we're going to walk into the Pentagon and have a talk with General Stanfield. We saved his life once and he told me if I ever needed anything I should come see him. Well I'm coming to see him." Sarah said.

"What do you need from him?" Carina asked looking at the badge. If it was a fake it was the best fake she had ever seen.

"I need him to get a meeting with the President. We need him to sign off on the mission Chuck's on and to approve the taskforce." Sarah said.

"Oh is that all? We just have to sneak you, a wanted felon, into one of the most secure buildings in the world, and force a four star General into taking you to see the President? It sounds very easy." Carina said sarcastically.

Chuck was tired. He had spent the last two hours dancing with Melissa. She taught him a few dances, including the man's side of the tango. That was a source of a lot of laughs for her. "So you wooed La Cauid by letting her lead you around in the tango? And what about all that stuff you talked about when we first met yesterday? About really tangoing? About hot Argentinean nights? Was all of that bullshit?" She asked rolling around on the couch laughing so hard she was crying and having trouble breathing.

"Laugh it up but I had you with that bullshit, as you called it." Chuck said pouting.

"No you didn't!" She said still laughing.

"Please, I had you the second I sat in that car! If I wasn't with Sarah right now I would have had you six ways from Sunday by now!" Chuck said with confidence.

"I don't think so! I could have stopped you at any time! You were my assignment remember. To me you were seducing yourself. So I let you." She said sitting up and giving him a sexy smirk.

"I could have you panting right now if I wanted to. I will agree that of the two of us you've had more sex, but I've made more love, and I know how to use that to my advantage. The fact remains that if I wasn't such a nice guy you would be in love with me right now. I saw the look in your eye last night. I had you. If I continued today you would have been a slave to my charms." Chuck declared puffing out his chest and sticking out his chin.

"Would not!" she said 

"Would too!" he said

"Would not!" she said 

"Would too!" he said

"Would not!" she said 

"Would too!" he said

"Would not!" she said

"Would Not!" he said

"Would too!" She said then a look of confusion crossed her face making her look so cute.

"AH HA!" He said raising his arms in victory. "And the Duck Hunting Season strikes again!" Chuck said bouncing around the room like a little kid on a sugar high.

"Just because you outsmarted me now means nothing!" She said pouting harder. But she just laughed at the way he was acting. The truth is he did have her. He still did, if he said the words right now she would be out of her clothes in seconds. He had her the second he set foot in that car. He was so right and it scared her a little. It was his smile she thought, the way he looked at her and told her a fantasy. He was sex, and power, and lust rolled up in a very nice looking package. He had her, he knew it, she knew it, hell Walker, form across the country knew it. Sarah was very lucky he was such a good person. Because if he told her to strip and get in bed she'd be there before the words even left his powerful mouth. Oh did that mouth hold power over her. She thought licking her lips subconsciously.

"Okay fine, but I said I owe you a dance and I think it should be the tango I told you about. Well not exactly. I don't think I'll be really tangoing with anyone but my wife." He said with a shy smile as he pulled her off the couch and into his arms. That was two hours, and countless dances ago and now he was dead tired. They sat and had a late diner of chicken and pasta, with a very nice red wine. After diner he was really dead. From the not sleeping last night, to the emotional rollercoaster of the day, to the two hours of dancing and fun of the evening. Add diner and wine on top of that and he was so ready for bed. He walked over to the bed and collapsed on top of it. Melissa came over and sat next to him. 

"How are we going to do this?" She asked pointing to the bed.

"Well the bed is very big, and if we keep some clothes on, I think we can share the bed, don't you?" He asked sleepily.

"Okay, I'm fine with that, but if I roll over in the middle of the night and touch you, your wife, The Enforcer, is not going to kill me is she?" She asked with a smile.

"No I think we're fine. Plus we have to share a bed for the next few weeks anyway. Might as well start acting like we're used to it now. Remember you're supposed to be a play thing for me, it's what you said they would believe. We can start by being able to be comfortable with touching each other." Chuck said pulling off his jeans. And rolling under the cover.

"Okay, you're right. I think we should spend tomorrow kissing and cuddling to get over the first few awkward times. You know to get familiar with each other." she said dropping her jeans and leaving her in her panties and tee-shirt. She pulled back the cover and slid in next to him.

"Okay, I can see how that would be a good idea." He said flipping off the light.

"When are we shipping out tomorrow anyways?" She asked rolling into him and laying her head on his pillow.

"I'm not sure. I think sometime after noon. I know Casey wants me to look over every one in his NSA team. You know the one you were on? I need to see if anyone else is Fulcrum on the team." He said rolling over on his side to face her.

"You mean besides me right?" She asked with a sad look on her face. In the dark of the room he could just make out the tear that rolled down her face before she turned away from him.

"Hey, that is not what I meant." He whispered to her as he wrapped his arms around her pull her to him. She let out a sad little laugh. "Okay so that is what I meant, but it's not true now and I shouldn't have said it that way. You know how much I trust you right. You're my friend Melissa. And for the next few weeks you're the only friend I'm going to have. I need you to talk to me." He said softy while hugging her close to him.

After ten minutes she turned her head. "I know." She said softly. "But this morning I woke up a traitor and I'm going to bed a good guy. It just hit me, that's all. Thank you for holding me." She said snuggling into his body and sighing.

"Hey it's what friends do. They hold you when you need to be held." He said as she dozed off.

The alarm clock next to the bed started ringing and Sarah's hand reached out and smacked it off the table. It was 4:30 am, and the sun wouldn't be out for another three hours. She rolled her neck and she heard two very loud pops. "Oh, that feels good." She said as she rolled over in the guest bed in Carina's house.

"Well it sure as hell didn't sound good." Carina said from the doorway. Sarah shot out of the bed pulling the gun from the nightstand and pointing it at Carina's head. "Very good reaction time!" She said sidestepping out of the line of fire and up to the bed. "Here I brought you coffee." She said handing Sarah the mug and taking her gun. She put the safety on before putting it on the table and sat next to her.

"How long you been up?" Sarah asked her taking note of her wet hair and silk robe.

"About a half an hour. I couldn't sleep. I'm nervous. It's been a week since my last mission and I got a rooky shot. Today if things go wrong we get hanged for treason don't we?" She asked Sarah with a sad smile.

"No we wont." Sarah said taking a sip form her mug. "They shoot you now I think. Yeah I'm pretty sure they use a firing squad for treason." She said with a straight face. The silence lasted for a minute before they both broke down laughing. "I honestly believe this is going to work. So far everything Chuck said happened, or something better presented itself. I know I was tense last night but today I feel calm. Like everything is going to work out for us. You know how I am during mission, always on edge looking for the next threat, but not today. Today I feel good. I feel real good. Did you hang up your uniform?" She asked Carina.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I wore one though. I almost forgot where all of the brass goes." She said.

"The last time I wore a dress uniform I was posing as an British officer to get into MI-6, I needed to test their security, they failed. I remember their director tearing the poor agents a new one. I felt really bad about that." Sarah said picking up the brass oak leafs.

She looked over at the ribbon bar and saw six ribbons. The purple hart with the five stars was easy to understand. five time she was wounded in the line of duty. It was more then that, but she didn't think they made one with ten stars. The other one she knew was a light blue ribbon with five horizontal stripes, form the center out was one yellow, two red, and two dark blue. This one had four stars. It was the ribbon for the intelligence star. The highest award given out to agents. This one was missing stars as well. She had eight of them, the most given out to one agent ever. The next closest was some old guy who was big during the cold war and he only had six of them. The next one down from that was Agent Samantha Glass, she had five of them, looking at the ribbon and thinking about Agent glass made her frown. She had been missing in action for two years now.

She shook her head and looked at the ribbon again, eight Intelligence Stars she thought. It was the one thing she was very proud of in her spy life. She remembered the missions she won them for in vivid detail. The last one she knew was a blue and gold striped ribbon. It was from her time in the Secret Service. It was for valor in the line of duty. That was also a time when she got a purple hart. She was proud of the fact she took a bullet for the Secretary of State.

She saw the other three ribbons and picked them up. On the back of each of them was a sticker label. The first was a gold, blue and red striped ribbon. It said Iraq campaign. Technically she didn't serve in the campaign but she did conduct intelligence operations during the first few weeks of the war. She also got shot again. She shook her head, she got shot way too often back then. The next one was a green and gold striped ribbon, this one was for marksmanship. The last one was a green and silver stripped ribbon for joint National Defense. That one made her smile, and think about her partner. She knew Casey had requested the uniforms and the ribbons. Hell he came up with the idea of sneaking into the Pentagon instead of trying to charm their way into the White House. She was very proud to be his partner. Over the last year and a half they had put aside their differences and worked as a strong team. Their record showed that. They had cleared more missions in one year then most teams cleared in three years.

"You got more then me, I only got the purple one, the green and gold one and the intelligence star medal one." Carina said looking over Sarah's shoulder.

"How many heart and stars do you have?" Sarah asked.

"Three Hearts and one Star. How about you?" She asked.

"Ten Hearts and eight Stars." She said standing up and heading into the bathroom.

"Did you say eight!?" Carina yelled through the door.

"Yes. Now go get dressed we have to move."

Sarah took a fast shower and slipped on a white underwear set. She then put on the uniform shirt, followed by the green skirt. She threaded the sidearm holster onto her belt and add the small tie thing that she hated. She then took some time adding her brass to her jacket, ending with the oak leafs. She pulled the jacket on and loaded the M9. She didn't like the gun very much. It was too big in her opinion but she would look strange carrying her nickel plated Smith and Wesson. She sighed and holster it before slipping on the plane black pumps. She then combed her hair out and pulled it into a tight bun at the back of her neck. The last part of her disguise was a pair of black plastic rimmed glasses. With the glasses and no makeup she looked different enough to not be recognized at first sight. That plus the very early morning time they picked to go was going to hopefully get them to Stanfield's office without any trouble. She grabbed her rarely used black metal briefcase with the CIA logo on it and walked out of her room. She saw Carina was dressed the same as her and she was pacing the living room floor playing with the slide of her M9.

"You okay?" Sarah asked with a smirk.

"Yes! No. I don't know okay." She said coming to a stop in front of Sarah.

"Well you have until we get there to get okay. After that we're in mission mode and I don't want you to freak out on me. Now lets go." Sarah said pulling on her wool coat over her uniform and walking out the front door. They got in the car and drove in the pre-dawn light to the Pentagon parking garage entrance. This was the first of six check points they had to cross. It was also the first time they would see if the credentials passed inspection. Sarah pulled up to the gate and a young man in a black BDU walked up to her car. She rolled down the window and handed him her ID along with Carina's. He ran it over a scanner in his hand and when the light turned green he handed them back with a smile.

"Have a nice day Ma'am." he said as she drove into the parking garage. They parked in one of the many open spaces and took the elevator, which needed them to swipe their id's to activate up to the third floor. From there it was just crossing through the check points in the hallway outside of the elevator, the one by the door to access the hall housing the high ranking military brass, and the door to Stanfield's office. When they got to the General's office his secretary greeted them with a small smile.

"Can I help you Ma'am." she asked Sarah as she stood up and saluted her. Sarah returned the salute like an old pro.

"Yes Captain I need to see the General immediately. It's a matter of national security. Tell him it's in connection to the bomb that almost killed him a year and a half ago." Sarah said handing her a file that had top secret stamped across it.

"Yes Ma'am, right away Ma'am." She said taking the file into the generals office. "Sir we have a matter of national security." She said placing the file on his desk. When he opined the file a picture of Sarah, Casey, and Chuck was sitting at the top. Stuck to it was a post-it that read. 'I'm calling in that favor you owe me.'

He looked behind the picture and found all of the Mission files they should have sent to Beckman if the Mission was on the books. He read through them with the speed of a man that had seen way too many of these files come across his desk. He read about the fake AWAL, Chuck getting caught, how he flipped a Fulcrum agent, and how the next stage of the plan was already in place. He even read a mission brief about the success of the Mission Sarah and Carina were on now. It even had a detailed account of the route they took to get the file to his desk. That made him smile. They were ballsy, very ballsy, and he liked that. You needed confidence in this game and these people had it in spades. Thinking it over he knew he was going to help these people. The benefits far out weighed the risks. Plus he owed them a debt that needed to be repaid, and any time he could mess with Diane Beckman was just too good an opportunity to pass up. He looked up at his assistant. "Becky, send them in, and lock down the office. Also get on the phone with the White House. Tell them I need a meeting with the President give him the code word: Blue Flag. Tell him I need to see him at his earliest convince." He said and Becky walked out of his office.

She went to her desk and motioned the two into the inner office. "He will see you now." She said picking up the phone. Sarah and Carina entered his office and stood at attention in front of his desk before saluting him. But he just waved at the chairs in front of his desk.

"Have seat, and cut the crap. We don't have time for it. What do you have for me as far as this mission goes, I hope this isn't all of it." He said waving his hand at the file on his desk.

"No sir, I have files on Fulcrum, Ted Roark, and the Intersect project. I also have my partner Major Casey standing by with a phone so we can talk to Chuck. My husband is the expert when it comes to this mission, it was his idea and he knows all of the players involved." Sarah said pulling files out of the brief case. Stanfield looked over the files for the next fifteen minutes. Sarah used this time to focus on calming herself and thinking about Chuck. He would be getting up soon. Carina on the other hand used the time to tap her foot and fidget at the fifteen minute mark she couldn't take it anymore and flew out of her seat and started pacing. She walked over to the side bar and grabbed a glass of orange juice and a donut, she then ate them while she paced.

"She's not a very calm person is she?" Stanfield asked with a smirk.

"No sir she is not, I think she has ADHD, but I'm no shrink. CARINA SIT YOUR ASS DOWN NOW!" Sarah yelled and Carina dropped into her seat. "Good now sit there and stop acting like a small child." Sarah said rolling her eyes. Carina didn't say anything she just played with the hem of her skirt and tapped her foot. Becky knocked on the door and told them that she got a meeting with the President in a half an hour. They all stood and walked out of the office and down to the garage where a town car was waiting for them. As they made the short drive Stanfield looked at the two of them.

"Have either of you two ever been to the White House?" He asked.

"Yes sir, I have, I did a year long stint on the Presidential protection detail." Sarah said pointing out her Secret Service ribbon. He turned to Carina and she just shook her head no.

"Okay I'll say this for your benefit young lady. Once we get in the building you are to surrender any and all weapons. You will follow me. You will keep your mouth shut until you are asked a question, and you will address the President as Mr. President, or Sir." He said and Carina nodded. "Good here we go." He said getting out of the car and helping the two agents out after him. They walked up to the security desk and they checked they're guns. They were lead to an outer office and told to wait. A few minutes later the door opened and they were lead into the Oval Office. They stood at attention and saluted. The President asked them to sit on one of the couches and he sat down on the other one.

"Now what's so important that you had to call this meeting?" He asked.

"Sir have you heard of the domestic rogue intelligence group know as Fulcrum?" Stanfield asked.

"Yeah, Beckman read me in on it in the intelligence briefing. What about them?" he asked taking a drink from his coffee cup.

"Well sir they are getting stronger everyday and they are hell bent on world domination. They are a bigger threat then any other foreign enemy we have. We have new information that says the head of Fulcrum is Ted Roark, of Roark industries. He is using the funds generated from his multi-billion dollar corporation to fund domestic terrorism, but we have an agent going under cover to infiltrate Fulcrum. He is Agent Charles Carmichael, of the CIA. You may also know him as Charles Bartowski, the human Intersect." The General said handing over the three files. Over the next twenty minutes the President read the files and asked question for clarification. Like in Stanfield's office Sarah was calm and collected, giving straightforward answers. Carina on the other hand was still nervous. She spent the whole time fidgeting.

"So agent Walker, you and your team want me to rubber stamp a rogue, off the books, mission?" The President asked flipping through the mission file again.

"Yes sir." Sarah said confidently. She made it to the Oval Office, now she wasn't leaving till she got what she came for. No was not an answer in her vocabulary.

"And you're confident this Charles Bartowski, a man with no training can pull off a deep cover mission on his own?" He asked looking her in the eye.

"Yes Sir. I believe in my Husband. I believe that he can do anything. I would like to point out his file. He did all of those things without any training. He has this ability to asses situations and think three steps ahead. He put together this whole plan in fifteen hours and with very little intel. For the last six days he has been right, or the situation has turned out better then he even thought it could. We put him in a room with a Fulcrum agent, his mission was to use her to get to Fulcrum. Instead he flipped her, and now she is willing to risk life and limb carrying information in and out of the Fulcrum camp to him. He was supposed to soften up General Beckman, she gave him a title, and back pay legitimizing his cover. His asset calls in to report his recruitment, she talks to Fulcrum Command. My husband might not have training, but he's more of an agent then half of the people I've worked with in the past. So yes Sir, I believe he can do this, and not only will he make it out the other side, I can promise you he comes out with more then he thought he would. He said he could get the information to bring them down. I will bet you treason charges he not only takes down Fulcrum, he does it by himself and quietly enough that the people that work for Roark Industries won't even know it happened. He's just that good." She said with a level of conviction that scared all of the people in the room including Sarah herself.

She didn't know if her hands were shaking because of her declaration of trust in her husband, or she just talked to the President of The United States like that. Either way she didn't care, people were going to respect her Chuck, and she was going to make sure of that. She was the Enforcer, no one fucked with her, and from now on they were going to treat her better half the same way God damn it! She thought with a small nod. She lifted her hand to her chest and felt his ring under her shirt. She took comfort from it. From the knowledge that he was out there doing his job and he was going to come home to her. He had to, he still had her ring, and he said he would bring it back to her. He made a promise and he always kept his promises to her.

The president sat back in his seat and looked her in the eye. He then looked down at the file and rubbed his chin. After a minute he looked back at her. "I want to talk to him, you said you had a way to do that, I want to talk to him before I okay this." He said.

"We can do that sir. We just need to make a couple of phone calls and we can get him on the phone." She said pulling out a burner phone marked 9.

"Don't tell him it's me before you hand him the phone, I want to judge his reaction." He said taking a drink from his cup.

Chuck was in a deep, comfortable, sleep. He was warm and content. He tightened his arms around Sarah and breathed in her sweat citrus smell… wait, Sarah smelled like lavender. He frowned and took stock in his surroundings. He was laying on a bed, spooning a woman. He knew it was a woman because his right hand was cupping her left breast. He slowly removed his hand, and he heard her moan in protest. "Chuck." She moaned in complaint. "Put it back, it was so nice. I feel so good." She sighed grabbing his hand and putting it back to her breast, and Chuck was painfully aware of his morning erection.

"Melissa, please let go of my hand." he said gently pulling away from her.

"Why?" She said spinning around and planting a kiss on his lips. "Why can't we start our practice session now?" She asked kissing his jaw and neck.

"Because I have to use the bathroom." He pleaded.

"Fine, but when you get back I get kisses." She said releasing his hand and letting him get up.

Chuck ran to the bathroom and shut the door. He took a few deep breaths and shook his head, that's when he heard the laughing through the door. As realization hit him he banged his head back into the door. "She played you. She played you and now she's laughing at you. You can't let her get away with that. You were trained by the best. She thinks taking off her top is seduction. You get out there and show her differently!" He said to himself. He took a few deep breaths and realized he really did need to pee. After he washed his hands and brushed his teeth he walked out of the bathroom. He advanced on her and spun her around to face him. Before she could react he was kissing her. It took a second but she returned it with the same vigor he put in. He sucked her lower lip and she sighed opening her mouth and closing her eyes. He kissed her jaw, then trailed his tongue down her neck kissing her at cretin points. He got to the pulse point on her neck and nipped her just hard enough the to make her cry out in pleasure and pain. He trailed his tongue down to her tee shirt collar, and she let out a shuddering breath. She pushed him back and pulled her shirt over her head when she went to kiss him he was not there and she fell off the bed. She looked up and saw Chuck standing over her laughing.

"That's not funny Chuck! I'm all hot now and you're laughing at me!" she said with a pout.

"Come on, we're even now. Lets go get dressed and order something to eat. We have a few meetings then we have to get abducted." He said pulling her up off the floor.

Just then the door banged open and Casey walked in holding a phone. "Chuck, I got the urgent phone call that you've been waiting for. Chuck I need you to get your shit together. This is the President." Casey said holding his hand over the speaker.

Chuck stood up and took two calming breaths. He took the phone, "This is agent Carmichael." He said.

"Agent Carmichael, this is the President. I hear you're the man responsible for this plan?" He asked.

"Yes Sir." Chuck said.

"I Think it's crazy, and more than a little bit risky, but I like it. I just have two questions to ask before I rubber stamp this mission. I want a no bullshit assessment, do you think you can pull this off son?" He asked.

"I'm not going to lie to you Sir. There is a long list of things that have to go right for this to work. So far it has, even this conversation we are having now was part of the plan. I had a big, confident speech all thought up for you but I think telling you the truth is more beneficial to me. You see the truth is I can't say for sure if this is going to work. For all I know I could be dead by tonight, but I'm willing to try sir. I'm willing to go out there, be abducted, and taken to see Fulcrum Command. I'm willing to sit across form him and tell him a pack of lies. I'm willing to sit there knowing that he could order my death with a few words and the wave of his hand. I'm willing to do all that because I know that if I don't then one day they will try to take over this country, and if they succeed, then the rest of the world will fall to them." Chuck said with the same level of conviction Sarah had used just five minutes before to talk about Chuck.

"Okay son, my next question was if you would be willing to do anything for the mission but I think you answered that for me. I'll sign off on this, and wish you luck son. God bless and good hunting!" He said.

"Thank you sir. I was wondering if you could hand the phone to my stunning wife please Sir." Chuck asked with a smirk.

"Sure thing, although I have to ask you how you landed such an amazing woman?" He asked with a laugh.

"I have no clue Sir. I'm still waiting for the day she wakes up and comes to her senses." Chuck said laughing.

"I think every man that marries an amazing woman feels the same way son, hell I do from time to time. Here you go," he said handing Sarah the phone. She walked out of the office.

"Chuck?" She asked so many questions with that one word and Chuck knew what she was asking.

"I'm okay Sarah, and the mission is on. I'm ready for the next step and I feel good about the mission so far. I also want to talk to you about the seduction mission, I, Sarah I just couldn't do it. I was in position to do it and I couldn't do it, I got to stage four and I puked my guts out, I felt absolutely horrible about it, for you, for Melissa, and for me." Chuck said with a sad smile.

"It's okay Chuck, I'm proud of you, you did good. You got the mission done without having to do much, and by not doing it you turned another agent. I got the story from Casey, she sounds like a an innocent in all of this. You made the right call. But Chuck I want you to make me a promises right now. You're going to go deep cover tonight. If at any time you think you're being watched I want you to put on a show for them. I want you to look her in the eye and go for it like you love her. Your life could very well depend on it. I understand the situation and what ever you have to do I want you to do it. The only thing that will make me mad is you not making it out of this alive. If you have to kill I want you to do it. If you have to bang her brains out I want you to do it. And if you have to burn her I want you to do it. I know this is going to be hard Chuck and I want your word that you will do what it take to get back to me." She said in a very emotional voice.

"I promises Sarah, I will do whatever it takes." He said in a sad voice.

"Good now I miss you and I love you and I can't wait till I can see you again, I've been thinking about the things I'm going to do to you when you put that ring back on my finger." She said in a sexy voice. "Now Chuck I want you to put her on the phone." She said.

"I love you too." Chuck said before he gave the phone to Melissa and walked over to the couch.

"Agent Barns, I'm Sarah Walker. I know you know who I am. So I won't even go into all that, but I want you to do a few things for me. The first thing I want you to do is look at Chuck. He just got up so his hair is probably all sticking up making him look so cute. He's probably smiling right now, I want you to look at him and understand that no matter how good he is at this spy stuff he's not an agent. He has no training, and he's never killed anyone. I know from your file that you've passed your Red Test. I want you to think about that feeling and understand that he might have to kill someone in the next few weeks, and I won't be there to get him through that. I need you to do that. I need you to help him cope with taking a life." Sarah said sadly.

"I understand. If any killing needs to happen I'll try to do it. But if I can't then I'll help him anyway I can." Melissa said watching Chuck and Casey messing with each other.

"The next thing I wanted to talk to you about is, sex. If you think you're being watched at all I want you to make it look good. I don't want him to die because he feels like he's cheating on me. I told him this already but I want you to talk him into it if you have to. But only if you have to do it. I'm not giving you permission to have sex with him for the hell of it. This is on a need to basses." Sarah said firmly.

"I understand Ma'am. I'll push him if I think we have to. But I'm going to push for privacy. I hope to never have to push him in to doing it, but if I have to I will." Melissa said turning red.

"The last thing I wanted to say before I hang up is, if at any time you think it's not going good, or you feel like they might know something I want you to tell me and I'll lead the forty agent strike team to come and get you two out. The mission is not more important then your lives. Both of you." Sarah said.

"Thank you Ma'am, it means a lot to me that you trust me to do this." Melissa said feeling good for the first time in her career.

"I trust you because Chuck trusts you. If he didn't trust you I wouldn't let you anywhere near him. And do me one last favor, Call me Sarah. I just gave you permission to sleep with my husband, I think we can go by our first names don't you?" Sarah asked with a laugh.

"I think so, I will get him back to you Sarah, I promises." Melissa said. Melissa hung up the phone and walked over to the table where Casey and Chuck were looking over a big stack of files. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

"Casey want's me to see if I flash on any of these guys to see if they are Fulcrum." Chuck said as he held up a picture of a man in a black suit.

"Oh, can I go over the ones you did, maybe a can find one you don't know. Are these the agents from the team I was on?" She asked flipping through the files that Chuck looked at.

"Yes this is the same team. Did you know anyone?" Chuck asked.

"No I didn't." She said with a smile.

"You didn't see anyone form one of your super secret Fulcrum meeting? You know the ones where you gather around a fire pit in hooded robes and trade secrets?" Chuck said laughing.

"No, and I've never been to any meeting like that. I'm pretty sure you just made that up." She said laughing at him. He laughed too until he saw a photo of Mat Carson.

"We have a winner Casey!" Chuck called out holding up the picture. They continued to look through the files for another hour and didn't find any more rouge agents. "Well that's the last file. I think we got the only Fulcrum agent on the team." Chuck said handing the last file over to Melissa. "But I do think we might have a candidate for recruitment. She was in the Intersect. Her name Alex Dunbar, 26 years old, graduated high school at age 12, she has a degree in computer engineering from MIT. She has an IQ of 168. She been with the NSA for three years. She was Navy Intelligence for two years before that. She scored off the charts on problem solving. And is in peak physical condition. She ran track in high school. She put in for a transfer to the Strike Team twice, and was rejected twice. She's too small, only 5'2". She listed in the Intersect as a possible candidate for Intersect download." Chuck handed Casey the file.

"I remember this one. She kept to her self. Very quiet. Tiny too. Looked like I could break her in half, and she needed to do something with her appearance. She's not ugly, but she could use something." Casey said flipping through the file.

Melissa looked at the picture and nodded. "I sat with her two days ago. She's smart. She told me that she thought you were headed in the wrong direction. I asked her why she thought that, and she said because Carmichael would know better then to give them that much of a clue. Also she said there was no sign at all that they went north, she said it was more logical that they would have went to a big city and then move out from there. She had you pegged Casey. She tried to talk some of us into to calling the General to repot her suspicions. That was when the report came in saying that they were in Vegas. I think she still doesn't trust you fully. And for the record I think she is very cute, she just needs a make over. Chuck said she got a masters degree from MIT at age 20, I can't think she had much time for hair care and makeup." Melissa said taking the file.

"Well over the next three weeks feel her out. See what she's like. If you don't think it's a good idea to bring her in then we wont. It will be your call." Chuck said. "Maybe have Sarah talk to her. She used to be kind of an ugly duckling before she joined the CIA. They made her into the knockout she is today. Maybe she can help Alex."

"Okay, I'll look into her. If there are no more Fulcrum agents that means I can gather the team and prepare for the extraction. I'll swing by later with your things Chuck." Casey said as he left.

"Well how about that meal I talked about two hours ago?" Chuck asked picking up the phone.

"Sure I'm starving." She said sitting next to him.


	11. Chapter 11

Chuck spent the rest of the morning sitting with Melissa and just getting comfortable. They ate breakfast and lunch on the couch. They took turns showering and getting dressed. Melissa put on the last outfit she had in her bag. This one a blue pin strip skirt suit, and a white fitted dress shirt. Chuck put the now dry cleaned clothes he wore on the first day back on. Chuck finished pulling on his jacket when Melissa walked out of the bathroom dressed. She took one look at him in his suit and blushed. Chuck saw it and smiled wolfishly. "See something you like?" He asked in a sexy deep voice as he stepped into her personal space.

"It's so not fare! You can't do that! Say things like that, dressed like that, and with that smile! It's not fare damn it!" she said shuddering.

"Why is it not fare?" he whispered as he brushed a stay lock of hair off her neck behind her ear. Making her shiver.

"Damn it Chuck! You have to stop doing that to me! It's Not Funny Any More!" She said blushing to the roots of her blood red hair.

"What am I doing to you?" He asked innocently as he ran his finger tips down her arm, before he took her hand in his. He rubbed his thumb over the inside of her wrist and she shuddered as her eyes rolled back in her head.

"I Said STOP IT!" She said yanking her hand away from him and turning away. "It's not funny to play with me like that. I don't like it!" She said hugging her self.

His smile died instantly and he hugged her from behind. "Melissa I'm so sorry! I didn't think about what I was doing! It's just, I've never been able to do that before and I kind of got, I don't know? Drunk on the power. I'm so sorry Melissa." He said hugging her tighter to him.

"I understand, but it's not cool Chuck. Not at all. You know you can get me hot without the way you look in that suit, but when you put it on? You, I don't know, become this perfect embodiment of sexy man. I can't take it Chuck. Not without ripping your clothes off." She said softly.

"I'm sorry Melissa, would it help if I took the jacket off?" He asked with a smile.

"I don't know. Just don't, you know, um, play with me like you did. I'm not used to being on the receiving end of that kind of stuff." She said reaching down and holding his hand around her waist.

"Okay no more playing." He said with a nod.

"If I think we're being watched I want you to do that. I want you to do what you just did and not stop until I tell you to, don't think, don't try to look for the cameras, just come at me with that confidence and don't stop till we pass out. No one will think it's fake. Mostly because for me it won't be. I want you to think about Sarah. Picture me as her and love me like you would her. Our lives might depend on it Chuck and Sarah told me that it was my job to get you out alive. I need your word Chuck." She said pulling his arms around her tighter.

He sighed and buried his face in her hair. She felt the tears roll down his cheek and land on her neck. "I promises. I will do it. I will make love to you. But I can't think about her, I could never think about her while we do that, never." He said.

"It's okay Chuck. I know she'll understand. I know she will because she told me she would. Now I don't know her like you do, but I'm guessing she a woman of her word?" She asked spinning around in his arms and taking his face in her hands.

"She is." He said with a small nod.

"I thought so, now kiss me like you've been banging my brains out for the last three days." She said before she smashed her mouth to his. She sighed as his tongue slipped into her mouth and rolled across hers. She grabbed the back of his neck and he tangled his finger in her hair. After a few minute they came up for air and she pushed him down onto the couch. She laid on top of him and went back to kissing him. They stayed like that for the next half hour. In that time she pulled his jacket off of him, and he had her shirt off. When she reached into his pants and grasped his hardness he shot off the couch. "Oh Chuck I'm so sorry! I went too far. I'm sorry. It's been a awhile since I've just made out with someone with out going farther." She said blushing.

"No it's okay I think I was lost there for a minute too. I think we got the kissing thing down don't you?" He asked in a high pitched voice.

Melissa looked at his blushing, confused, face, messed up hair, and half unbuttoned shirt and couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out of her. "How the hell can YOU get ME so worked up? You don't have one cool bone in your body." She said laughing at him.

"What?" he asked, but she just laughed harder. He stood up and walked to the mirror he saw how he looked and smiled. "I will have you know that one of the worlds most beautiful and deadly women thinks I'm a sexy beast." He said puffing out his chest but that just made her laugh harder. "Fine be like that, but the next time you have a bad hair day I'm going to laugh at you." he said trying to get his short hair to lay flat. She laughed so hard she fell off the couch and that sent Chuck over the edge.

Casey gathered the strike team in a conference room. When they were all in and seated he stood up and walked around the big Conference table. "We know where Walker is. She's in custody in D.C. We have a new mission and I will share the details with you in just a second, but first…" He stopped behind an agent sitting at the table. He pulled a metal baton from his pocket, flicked it out, and smashed the agent across the back of the head. "I have to take care of the Fulcrum agent on the team." Casey said cuffing the unconscious agent and rolling the chair out of the room and into the two guards waiting for it. "Take out the trash." He growled. He walked back in and the team was all talking he raised his hands and the room fell silent. "He was a Fulcrum agent. Do any of you not know who Fulcrum is?" He asked and no one made a sound. "Good. There is a plan in place to bring down the whole organization. If any of you are Fulcrum you will turn yourself in right now, we will go easy on you. You have my word on that. If you don't turn yourself in and I find out you are working for Fulcrum I will kill you and your whole family. I will make it slow and very graphic. I will leave you for last and I will make you watch. I am not Fucking with you. The only people I care about are in the line of fire on this mission. If anything happens to them, and I link it to one of you I will take my time. Does everyone understand?" He asked in a voice that scared the crap out of everyone in the room. "Good now the mission started about a week ago… " and he brought the team up to speed. He did make some changes to the story, changes he had trouble keeping a straight face while saying. Changes like: "It was hard to keep you guys searching in the wrong places for them, but I needed to give them time to set up the deep cover." or "Agent Carmichael is everything his file says and more, the guy is a master at deep cover," or "Agent Barns was always working for us, she's been on a three month deep cover assignment."

"For the mission today I want the whole team to roll out twenty minutes after we do. You are to track the GPS signal in my SUV. If the signal stops, I want you to pull off to the side of the road and wait for a call, if I don't call you after five minutes I want you to converge on the signal at full speed. I'm going to be shot. Do any of you have field medic training?" He asked and six people raised their hands, one of them was Alex Dunbar. "Good, you," He said pointing to the tiny girl. "can patch me up. We will then continue to make our way back to Castle. Once we get there we are going to wait for Agent Barns to check in. After she does, we're basically on stand by for the next three weeks. At any point during that time the order can come in for tactical help. We need to be locked and loaded and ready to go at a moments notice. We are going to have two deep cover agents stuck behind enemy lines and we're their only hope of getting out of there alive. I want all of you ready to roll out in two hours, that's 1600 by my watch. Lets move people!" Casey said walking out the door.

Chuck and Melissa had just finished an early dinner when Casey came to get them. They walked out of the Black Sand holding facility and Chuck looked around for the strike team. "Where's your backup Casey?" He asked getting nervous.

"Relax, they're around back. This isn't the first time I've done something like this." Casey said getting behind the wheel.

"How am I supposed to relax? I know what's going to happen." Chuck said getting in behind him and sliding over so Melissa can get in next to him.

"Relax, I'm telling you we have nothing to worry about. Can you calm him down back there?" He said turning around and looking at Melissa.

"I could but it would go against Sarah's orders of not having sex with him unless it's life or death." She said with a laugh.

"Well if he's going to act like that the whole way, I might kill him, so yeah, go for it I say." He said with a smirk.

"Casey! That's not funny." Chuck said laughing. The tension of the car was broken though. "We are all ready though right?" Chuck asked settling back in his seat.

"Yes Chuck, we are." Casey said rolling his eyes. As much as he played it off though he too was nervous. Some time during the next four hour drive they were going to be ambushed, shot at, and most likely crash. This was going to happen fast, and in the mayhem he might get killed. This was one part of the plan he was not looking forward to. He trusted Chuck, trusted him with his life, with Sarah's life, and with the completion of this mission, but he didn't want to tell him how very risky this abduction could get for him. He didn't want to tell Chuck that if they attacked the SUV and started shooting at him they might kill him. Chuck would have aborted the mission, but Casey knew his life was worth very little when it came to bringing down a group like Fulcrum. He knew Chuck wouldn't understand that, so Casey didn't tell Chuck that in the chaos of the extraction he might die. The plan was for Chuck to shoot him but if one of the Fulcrum guy's beat Chuck to it he was going to die.

"Are the tracking devices in the special pocket of my suitcase?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, I also have a clip of stainless steal full metal jacketed rounds in my gun. Just remember what we practiced and everything should go as planed. Everything about the plan has worked out just like you said it would, why are you worried now?" Casey asked.

"Because even though you haven't said it out loud I know what will happen if one of the Fulcrum guys gets a shot off first." Chuck said looking at his hands. Melissa looked over and saw them start to shake. She grabbed them in hers and rubbed them.

"And I knew that when we first started this mission. We all had things we didn't want to do in this. Walker didn't want to hurt General Stanfield or his assistant, nor did she want to seduce her old contact in the Secret Service. We found ways around that and all she used Carina for was back up. You didn't want to seduce and use a Fulcrum agent, and you didn't. Now we have a new team member in Melissa back there. Good to have you on the team by the way, I don't think I've said that yet. I didn't want you to go in alone, and now you're not. At no point during the planning session did I have any reservations about what's about to happen. Not one. Do you know why? Because I've seen you quick draw and put five shots in a playing card size target from thirty feet. So calm the hell down, and don't forget your luggage when you go. Remember they want you, not the other way around. You don't surrender your gun, you take your things, and you never let them think they control you. Remember that talk we had before the Rite. You know one day you're going to have to use your gun. Today is that day, but you might have to use it after that. I want you to stay calm, stay cool, stay Carmichael." Casey said staring straight ahead.

"And remember I'll be right there beside you. If they put up a fight about any of the things he just said we will take them out and I can take you to my contact. We can say the shoot out went bad for the retrieval team." She said with a smile as she opened her purse and showed him her Glock19.

"Thanks guys but hopefully we can stick to the plan…" Chuck started to say but he stopped when three black Chrysler 300C's with tinted windows came up on either side of them.

"These guys are as bad as the NSA strike team guys. IT'S CALLED SUBTLY! You jackasses!" Casey said shaking his head. He smiled when he saw Chuck roll his eyes. The lead car pulled up in front of the SUV and slowed down making Casey slam on the breaks. The back windows of the two cars on either side of them opened up and two guys in tactical gear shot out the back tire and the sides of the SUV. "Stay Down Back There. These guy are shooting everything." Casey said ducking a stray shot. Casey slammed into both side cars and slowed down. "I can't give up too easy?" He said with a shrug as he leaned out of his shattered window and shot the guy sticking out of the back window on his side. He then put six rounds in the lead car, breaking the rear windshield and killing the two guys in the back seat. He skidded the SUV to a halt and pulled an MP5k from under the seat and shot the three cars full of holes. He spun around and tossed Chuck his gun. Had the Fulcrum agents been paying attention instead of spraying and praying they would have seen Casey smile as Chuck grabbed the gun out of the air, turned it back on Casey, and shot Casey in the chest. Casey fell like a tone of bricks. Melissa held up her hands.

"Holed your fire Jackasses! Don't shoot us were on the same side here!" She said as she crossed over to Casey's body and checked his pulse, he had one, it was strong and oddly calm. She bent down and whispered, "Don't worry Casey I'll take care of him." she said patting his shoulder, he grunted softly. "He's dead! Nice shot Carmichael. You idiots need to take a few tips from agent Carmichael here! He did with one shoot what you jackasses couldn't do with a hundred! And what's with all the shooting!? Were you trying to kill us too!?" She yelled at them. Chuck walked around the SUV to the back and popped the tail gate open. One of the agents ran up to him and shoved a sub machine gun in his face.

"Hands where I can see them!" He yelled at Chuck. Chuck flashed and grabbed the gun and slammed it into his face drooping him like a sack of potatoes. He then shouldered the gun and pointed it at the other four agents

"Anyone else feel like pointing a gun at me will not get off so lightly! I just killed the man I worked with for the last year and a half, what do you think I'll do to a bunch of random jackasses like you?" Chuck asked in a deadly voice.

"What the Fuck is wrong with you people? Do you even know who this is? Your lucky he didn't shoot all of you! What are your names and ranks!? I'm going to make sure Fulcrum Command knows what kind of fucking retards he sent to retrieve the best CIA agent in the world!" She yelled pushing them all into the two cars. "I will drive the last car and follow you! I refuse to be in the presence of you morons any longer then I have too. You, big idiot! Make sure to round up the dead bodies of your buddies! Leave Major Casey's body where it is." She said directing the clean up of the area as Chuck got his two bags out of the trunk along with the two tactical bags that Casey packed for him. one had an extra Sig229 and ten loaded mags. A lap top computer with all of the research he had on his Intersect 2.0 patch, and a tactical vest. The second bag has a spar vest for Melissa as well as an extra glock19 and an MP5 with ten mags for each. That along with his two suit cases went into the lest shot up car. The other agents along with the three dead bodies and the unconscious agent went into the other two cars. "Go ahead we'll be right behind you I just want to make sure no on is following us." She said waving the other two cars on. Once they were gone Chuck ran up to Casey.

"You okay big guy?" Chuck said taking a knee next to him.

"Yeah, now go. This went too good to screw up now!" Casey said from the ground.

"Okay, I think I hear the sirens anyway. See you later John." He said softly as he stood up and walked to the waiting car. As soon as he got in Melissa gunned the big V8 and quickly caught up to the other two cars. She looked over at Chuck and saw he looked pale and was shaking. She reached over and grabbed his leg. "Relax Chuck, you did good. Relax. Lay the seat back and chill, I think we're going to ditch these cars somewhere and switch to fresh ones soon. We'll need Agent Carmichael again incase they want to try something. I might have to make a call to Fulcrum Command. In fact that's what we should do. As soon as they say something stupid, and lets face it they will. They're not exactly the A team. I'll make a call." She said rubbing his leg. His hand closed around hers and he held her hand tightly.

"Thanks Melissa, with out you I would have lost it out there." He said in a voice thick with emotion.

"It's hard the first time you shoot someone. I know it was hard for me. The Red Test is hard on almost all of the agents. But think about it this way, when you have to shot someone in the future you wont have those first time jitters." She said with a smile.

"Yeah I guess?" He said.

"Good, now calm down. How many shots do you have in your gun?" She asked and Chuck popped the mag out and counted.

"I got seven shots, Why?" He asked reinserting the mag.

"Because if they get suspicious or rowdy we might have to put them down. Do you have enough rounds? You can take some from my gun if you need to. Lets faces it I'm just going to be laying down random cover fire if we get into a shooting situation. You'll be doing the actual killing, sorry about that, but that's the way it's going to be till you can do the upload." She said whit a sad smile.

"No if we have to shoot it out I can take them down with seven shots, and if things get real bad Casey packed an MP5-sd6 in the second bag." Chuck said looking at Casey's gun.

"It looks like we're turning off the road into a gas station up ahead. Be ready for anything." She said pulling her gun out of her purse and putting it on her lap.

Casey sat up and pulled his button down shirt open. Looking at the bullet hole he smiled. "That kid's just scary sometimes." the shot was perfect. Three inches from the heart and two inches from his collar bone. He hit no major organs or muscles, and the shot was so good that he had stopped bleeding already. Feeling around his shoulder he felt the exit wound and again it was perfect. With the antibiotic he had taken before they left and a few stitches he would be back to fighting form in two days. He looked down the road and saw the six black SUVs coming at full speed and he shook his head. "It's called Subtly! God dam it! I swear the first thing I'm going to do is buy ten gray Toyota Camrys. Blend in for God's sake!" he said as the SUVs pulled up and formed a perimeter around him. He stood up and brushed himself off. "Roll out the crime tape and call for a clean up crew! Where is Agent Dunbar?" He asked looking around.

"I'm over here sir." She said stepping out from behind a taller agent. Casey took a look at her and had to suppress a laugh. She was wearing black BDU, and a tactical vest. Both were too big for her, but Casey was sure they were the smallest set he ever saw. She came running up to him and snapped off a salute. "I can stitch that wound up for you sir. If you will just come with me we can get you seated in this SUV right here and I can start working on you." She said directing him to the lead SUV.

"Good, I want this whole place cleaned up in a half hour! Also someone report my death to the NSA. We have to legitimize Carmichael's kill." He said taking a seat in the back of the SUV and the Alex climbed in after him.

"Do you need anything for the pain Major?" She asked laying out medical supplies.

"No I don't. Take a look at this." He said showing her his wound. "It's perfect! I'm so proud of the kid! I taught him how to shoot you know?" Casey said with a smile.

"Very good shot Sir. I do believe he missed everything. You should be all good in a few days Sir. Agent Carmichael is a very good shot." She said with admiration shining in her voice as she stitched up his shoulder.

"Your damn right he is." Casey said grinning like a proud parent. After she stitched him up and put on a bandage she left the SUV and Casey pulled out a phone.

Sarah was sitting in the red room at the White House drinking Coffee with Carina and General Stanfield when the phone rang in her briefcase. She popped it open and pulled the phone. "Talk to me Casey, How's Chuck?" She asked with fear in her voice.

"I'm fine thanks for asking! You know I just got shot right?" He asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, by Chuck, the shot was probably so clean it's half way healed by now. What about my Chuck?" She asked impatiently.

"Well your right the shot was so clean I'd be hard pressed to repeat it. The kids fine. In fact more then fine. He threatened to kill them all if they messed with him and Melissa is treating the whole thing like a screw up on their part. Her and Chuck left in a car by themselves. The girl's good on her feet. I think they are going to be trying to kiss his ass for the next few weeks." Casey said with a laugh.

"Thank God. I was most afraid for this part of the plan no one was hurt thankfully." She said sighing in relief.

"I Was Shot! How did no one get hurt!? I was hit. By my own partner too! I'm wounded you think so little of me!" Casey said laughing.

"Oh can it Casey. You got off easy, I still have to tell Beckman that we ran a mission without her." Sarah said with a smile.

"Right, I did get off easy this time. I'll take a bullet from Chuck over an angry Beckman any day." Casey said nodding.

"Get some rest and heal up, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Me and Carina are going to fly to Vegas tonight and drive Chuck's car back. I can't leave it there too long and I want to surprise him with it when he gets back, he loves that Mustang. You should have seen how happy he was driving it to Vegas." Sarah said with a laugh.

The three black shot up cars pulled into an old abandoned gas station and the agents jumped out of the cars and ran around the back of the gas station, they drove three black BMW M5s up to the three shot up cars. Melissa and Chuck got out of the car with there guns in hand. "We switching cars?" she asked going to the trunk and pulling Chuck's bags out.

"Yeah, but before we go any where we'll take your guns, hand them over." One agent said shuddering his UMP.45.

"Agent Carmichael, can you knee cap this asshole for me pleas?" Melissa asked as she pulled her phone out. Chuck nodded and brought his gun up faster then anyone could blink and shot the agent in the knee cap, dropping him to the ground screaming. She dialed the number she called last time. She looked at the other three agents pointing their guns at her and Chuck. "I suggest putting those guns down before Agent Carmichael here drops another one of you." She said with a raised eyebrow. She heard someone pick up the phone.

"Report!" Said the voice like last time.

"This is agent Barns, I need to talk to Fulcrum Command, tell him it's about the Carmichael extraction. I'll hold." She said in an even tone. She looked over at the other agents, they still had their guns pointed at them. "Charles, the agent on the left, I don't like the calculating look in his eyes, his shoulder, please?" She asked. Chuck turned and fired hitting the agent in the collar bone and putting him on the ground. "The next time it will be a crouch shot. I'm not fucking with you! Drop the guns!" She said. She heard a click over the phone.

"This is Fulcrum Command, what can I do for you agent Barns?" He asked in a voice dripping in smiles and charm.

"The agents you sent are the biggest bunch of Fuck ups I've ever had the misfortune of meeting. We are, as we speak, in a Mexican stand off with two of them the rest of them are either dead or wounded. I will admit two of them were shot on my orders. They botched the extraction. They shot up the SUV we were in. They fired off about a hundred shots and didn't hit a God damned thing. In fact the one job they had, to kill Major Casey, was done by Agent Carmichael with the Majors own gun! They then tried to point a gun at Agent Carmichael, he beat the man senseless. Then at the vehicle exchange they try holding us up for our weapons like we are some kind of hostages. Please tell me we can kill the other two agents? They are asking for it as far as I'm concerned. You personal wanted to meet with agent Carmichael Sir. I told him Fulcrum was a very professional organization. Then his first impression of us are these idiots? What's stopping him form killing all of us and walking? We need him. He could care less about working for us. I'm half tempted to help him kills these two and run away with him! I must say getting shot at by my own people was a real eye opener for me sir." She said waving her gun around as she talked. Chuck for his part never took his eyes off the other two agents.

"Agent Barns, I'm very sorry for this whole mess. Can you put one of the still alive agents on the phone please?" He asked in an exasperated tone.

"Yes sir." She pulled the phone away from her face and held it out. "One of you two retards come get this phone! Fulcrum Command is waiting!" She said. One of the two agents took the phone. Melissa couldn't make out what Roark was saying to the agent but she could hear his yells from three feet away. The agent handed the phone back and waved the other agent down. "Sir?" Melissa asked.

"Agent Barns I would like to extend my sincerest apologies. From now on your in charge of the mission. I need you to talk Carmichael down and get him to come work for us. We need him. He's the only one that can fix our Intersect. Can you get him to Roark Towers in down town L.A.?" Roark asked in a pleading voice.

"Yes sir I think I can talk him into meeting you, but I will tell you this now. If he feels like he's being watched, or not trusted he will walk away, and trust me sir if he walks he might just kill a bunch of us for pissing him off. I've spent three days with the guy and I can tell you he's no joke. If he thinks we're messing with him he will take down Fulcrum just for the inconvenience we caused him. The guy's good, but he's also a bit crazy that way." Melissa said trying to keep the smile off her face and out of her voice. She was dictating terms for a deep cover operation with the leader of the enemy camp. She never thought she would be in this situation. She went from government call girl to deep cover super spy in just twenty-four hours. She loved working with Chuck!

"What ever it takes to get him here, you do it. If he wants to shoot those two idiots you let him. You do what ever it takes to get him to see me. I think I can talk him in to working for us. Pleases express my deepest apologies for the mess those agents caused." He said sounding desperate.

"I will sir. You can expect to see us later today I hope." She said before she hung up the phone. She turned to Chuck who still had his gun up and pointed at the two agents. "Well the boss says I'm to take you to meet him. He said you can kill these two if you want to. I say do it, they deserve it for fucking up so badly, but hay if you want to save the bullets that's cool too." She said with a shrug as she tossed his bags into the back seat of one of the BMWs.

Chuck looked at them in what he hoped looked like a Casey scowl. It must have looked right to them because he thought he saw the agent on the left flinch. "The price of a bullet is too damn high to waist on low life scumbags like you two. Pray we never meet again because if we do, I won't be so easy on you." Chuck said spitting on the ground by their feet. He put the safety on and tucked his gun in the front of his waist band like Casey and got in the car.

Melissa looked at the two still standing there. "You two are very lucky. I would try avoiding him in the future if I was you." Melissa said.

Chuck rolled down his window with a Casey scowl still in place. "Melissa get you ass in this car! Shooting people makes me hungry. I want pancakes, Lets go!" He said. She smiled and got in the car as soon as they drove away Chuck pulled the gun out of his pants and handed it to her. "Hold this I don't want it to fall out of the car when I do this," He said before he stuck his head out of the window and was violently sick. Melissa closed her eyes and turned the radio up, there was only one thing that made her sick and that was hearing someone else throwing up. When he had nothing left in his stomach he laid his head out of the window and let the cool air blow over his face. She turned the radio off before reaching over and rubbed his back.

"You okay Chuck?" She asked softly.

"Yeah I will be, I just need some air." He said reaching back and taking her hand in his. "Thank you for this. I would have never made it through this day without you." He said rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.

"I'm glad I was here to help. I like you Chuck, you're good to me and you took me in and helped me find my way back to the good guys side. Not only that but you got me on the kind of mission I've dreamed about doing since I started working for the NSA. Thank you Chuck, or should I call you agent Carmichael? I don't know if you've thought about this yet but you just did all of the agent type things in this mission so far. There was no Sarah or Casey here to do it for you. You did it Chuck! You didn't flinch, you didn't blink, you stood there and shot those two guys without a hint of hesitation. I know you always say the truth about the things agent Carmichael did and what the reports say are two very different things, but not today! Today I saw Agent Charles Carmichael, CIA. He put a bullet in his partner, saving his life. He beat an enemy agent senseless. He shot two other enemy agents with pin point accuracy, and made two more piss themselves. Today the legend of Agent Carmichael just grew in the Fulcrum camp. Those agents are going to tell every agent they see not to fuck with agent Charles Carmichael, and when they ask why, they will tell them about what you just did back there. And that stuff at the end? Where the hell did you come up with that? It was perfect. They looked even more scared after that! They think your some kind of crazy person." She said waving her hands around as she talked.

"I don't know, it just came out. A while back I created this persona. It was a combination of Sarah Walker and John Casey. I thought what would they do? The first time I met Casey he offered to shoot both Sarah and I, he then said he was going to go out and get a late night snack, maybe pancakes. That image of him so casually offering to shoot us and then eat pancakes still scares me to this day. I wanted to put that kind of fear in them. Sarah once told me if you can make the bad guy hesitate just for a split second then that gives you an advantage over them. The pancake thing was to freak them out even more. Also I was having a Hard time when I sat down in the car, so that was in the back of my head…" He said blushing bright red.

"I know I was excited, but I think that had a lot more to do with seeing agent Carmichael again. I don't know if you know this or not, but you look different when you're fully into agent mode. Your posture becomes more ridged, your shoulder roll back, and your face takes on this hard, predatory edge. I must admit I'm very turned on when I see it. It was agent Carmichael that had me panting, and wetting my panties that first time we met in the back seat of Casey's SUV. Agent Carmichael could have me right now in this car if he wanted to, but you Chuck, I don't think so. You're two different people as far as I'm concerned. Does that even make any sense to you?" She asked blushing.

"Yes it does. When Sarah gets ready for a mission she looks and acts differently then when we're not on a mission. About the only agent I know that doesn't look or act differently on a mission is Bryce, but the more I think about it the less I think he's a good agent. I mean the three times I've seen him work I wasn't very impressed by what I saw. I think he's more flash then fire. I mainly model my confidence off of him. He acts like he can take on Fulcrum by his self, but I don't think he could have handled any part of this plan without screwing it up. I've seen the files of his missions with Sarah and she did most of the heavy lifting. It reads more like the Carmichael file then anything. I could clearly see what he did on missions and most of the time all he did was back Sarah up. Unreliably I might add. She was shot twice on his watch." Chuck said making a bitter face.

"Wow, been holding that in for awhile have we?" She asked with a smile.

"Maybe, I try not to hate him, but it's just so easy sometimes. I mean he kicked me out of Stanford, he stole my girlfriend, then he sent me the intersect dragging me into the spy world. Then when things are just starting to look up with Sarah he comes back from the dead and tries to get her to run away with him. Twice! And he talked me into not going out with Sarah. Said it was for her protection. that asshole played me! We could have been together for over a half a year if it wasn't for him. About the only good thing he ever did for me was, ironically, give me the Intersect." Chuck said with a angry scowl on his face.

"Wow you really were holding that in weren't you? I've never heard you this angry before." She said.

"Well who am I going to talk about it with? Sarah? Casey? She was with the guy for two years and if I bad mouth the guy in front of her it just makes me look like an asshole. And Casey? He'd tell me to pack it in. Stop with the lady feelings. No I've had to bottle it up. I'm ashamed to admit that I wanted to tell Roark where he is before he had the chance to get out. I know it's petty, and spiteful. No I'll wait a few days to give up his location. By then Sarah will have told him to get out of there. I'm not the kind of guy to sell out a fellow agent. But for a second I thought about it." Chuck said with a look of deep shame across his face.

"Hey thinking about killing you girlfriend's ex and doing it are two very different things. Hell if it was a crime to think about killing your boyfriends ex I'd have got the chair by now, and so would half of the women in the world." She said with a laugh.

"I guess. I just, I, don't know. I felt so inferior to him for so long that it's created this nagging voice in the back of my head that sounds a lot like him telling me I'm never going to be good at this stuff, you know? I'll never be good at being an agent, or being with Sarah. That she could never be with a regular guy like me. It all stopped about a week ago when I read her file for the first time. When I saw the mission reports for their missions together I saw just how useless he was on those missions. I did more then he did on missions and I had almost no training. I used to think he was the perfect image of being an Agent, but now I see he's nothing but a frat boy playing James Bond. When I saw that my level of confidence shot through the roof. I ran the patch for intersect 2.0 that same day and I don't think I would have done it before I saw those mission reports. When we put together this super team after all this is over he's not going to be on the list of names for recruitment. Not unless Sarah puts him on there, and she has to really sell both me and Casey, and Casey can't stand the guy. I never really knew why he hated Bryce so much but I think I know now. He took one look at him and saw what it took me reading the mission file to see. He saw a fake. He saw a little boy playing agent. And for a man like Casey that's the equivalent of blaspheme. A sin right up there with treason and selling out your team. It's why he didn't like me for a long time. I know that now. I used to think it was because I wasn't a real agent, but I think it had a lot more to do with the fact I didn't take it seriously. I didn't treat the job with the level of respect it deserves." Chuck said picking up Casey's gun off her lap and running his fingers over the slide. It was a lot like his gun but Casey's had a railed frame and a laser grip.

He knew now what it meant to be an agent. The choices you have to make, the life you have to deny yourself. The knowing that the work you are doing is for a greater good that you yourself will never experience because your off in some rat hole Russian bar tracking down stolen intelligence, or in a cave in Afghanistan looking for a terrorist cell. No he didn't respect Bryce as an agent anymore. He barley respected him as a man any more. He read in one report that on a mission to Hungary they pissed off a local mob boss and he sent a ten man hit squad after Sarah, and where was her partner and boyfriend? Germany. Bryce got out of the country and left her to take care of them by herself. Of course she did, she's Sarah Walker after all, but her partner and boyfriend left the country to check on some leads that "went nowhere" the report said. The coward left her to fend for herself, and she let him get away with it. That was when he thought about selling him out to Fulcrum. He was not proud of his thoughts but the fact remains that when the chips are down and the odds are long, Bryce Larkin will skip town and leave you to take the fall. No Bryce was not going to be on the team, in fact he better watch out the next time they were in the same place, by then Chuck would have his own training and he had every intention of beating the living shit out of him. He was going to kick his ass so bad it was going to look like someone dropped Bryce in a food processor. He was going to turn his pretty face into a bloody mess. Maybe then the next time his life is going good Bryce wouldn't show up and screw it up again.

"Chuck I don't know what you did before we met, I mean I read the report and you told me what happened, but I didn't really know you before a few days ago but I've met agents before and I have to say you're the best one I've ever met. Look at what you accomplished with out training. Look at what your doing now. We're on our way to meet the head of Fulcrum. You're Agent Charles Carmichael for God's sake! You're such a badass they can't wait to meet you. Roark told me your file alone was enough to get you a meeting with him. Now we have a two hour drive before we get there, lets go get pancakes and make the bustard wait. If he wants a meeting with agent Carmichael he'll have to wait till you get there. Agent Carmichael wants pancakes and he's going to get them damn it!" Melissa said punching IHOP into the navigation system in the dashboard.

"That's right God Damn It! I want pancakes! And I also know my partner wants pancakes! We're getting pancakes!" Chuck said.

"Hell yes we're only ten miles form an IHOP!" She said fist bumping Chuck.

"Thanks Melissa. For saying all that stuff and for the talk. I know most of it was motivated by the fact that you've been thinking about pancakes ever since I first said it back at that gas station, but I still appreciate it." He said holding her hand.

"You know me so well Chuck. I haven't stopped thinking about them from the time you side it. Not even when you were hurling out the window. I kept picturing a huge stack of buttery pancakes. Oh and bacon! We can't forget the bacon!" She said licking her lips as they pulled up to the IHOP.

"I have a friend named Morgan, I think you two would hit it off. He too has inappropriate thoughts about breakfast foods." Chuck said as they walked into the restaurant.


	12. Chapter 12

Three hours later and two very full stomachs packed with pancakes they arrived outside of Roark Towers. The building that housed most of Roark Industries employees. The building was fifty-five floors tall. The higher up you lived the higher up the food chain you were in the Roark Industries pecking order. Melissa pulled into the circular drive way and Chuck pulled out three extra mags for his gun. He pulled his almost empty one and put in a fresh one before handing the rest to Melissa. "Can you put these in your purse?" He asked with a smile.

"Sure I'll be your pack mule." She said with a laugh.

"Come on, one of the most powerful man in the world is waiting to fawn over me. I can't keep him waiting all night now can I?" Chuck said as the door man opened the door and handed Melissa out of the car.

"How can I help you this evening?" He asked with a smile.

"We are here to see Mr. Roark. He's expecting us. The names are Barns, and Carmichael." Chuck said.

"Of course, if you will just hand over the keys we can park your car in the garage?" The door man asked holding out his right hand, but it was his left hand that Chuch was looking at. Chuck grabbed his outstretched hand, spun him around, and slammed his face in the hood of the car. He reach into the man's coat and pulled out a Glock.

"Melissa hand this man the Key." Chuck said letting the man go. Melissa handed him the key. "Listen very closely scumbag, if you touch my bags I will break every bone in your body starting with your toes." Chuck growled out, as he ejected the mag form the Glock, and the live round from the chamber before handing the gun back to the man. "Ask your friends what I did to them, and think, I did all that and they just pointed their guns at me. Imagine what I would do to someone that violated my privacy." Chuck said as they walked into the building.

"What was all that?" Melissa asked as they stepped on to the elevator.

Chuck looked dead at the camera in the corner of the elevator, "After the huge fuck up that was our extraction this afternoon. I want them to know what not to do so that when I shoot these assholes they know why I'm doing it. I don't particularly care for Fulcrum. I don't like 95 percent of the agents I've meet so far and I refuse to be fucked with again today. I have a gun and fifty rounds. I can kill fifty of these idiots before I run out. And god help them if I get my hands on an assault rifle. They want me to work for them? They need to start acting like it. Because I don't need to be here." Chuck said. The doors to the elevator opened to the penthouse. There were two guards standing by the doors in suits carrying p90s the second the doors opened fully they pointed their guns at him.

"Surrender any and all weapons!" One of them said.

Chuck took one look at them and hit the button for the lobby. "Tell Roark that if he wants me to work with him he's going to treat me like an equal." Chuck said as the doors closed. He turned to Melissa and smiled at her with his head turned away from the camera. He turned back to the camera "If my things were touched I'm killing that door man, and then I'm coming back up to the penthouse and killing every Fulcrum agent in this building! Every fucking one of you!" Chuck said pulling his gun out and racking the slide. When the elevator stopped before it got to the ground floor Chuck looked at the camera and raised his eyebrow. He looked up and pulled the light cover down and looked at the hatch. "You have thirty seconds to get this elevator moving before I kill you all for making me dirty my suit by climbing up this elevator shaft." Chuck said holding out his hand to Melissa. "I'll take those spare mags back." Chuck said. She opened her purse and handed him the three magazines. He tucked them into his jacket pocket and cracked his neck as he looked at his watch three seconds before the thirty second were up the elevator started moving again. When the doors opened on the ground floor three of the hottest women Chuck had ever seen stood there. He flashed on all of them.

The first one was a legend in the NSA. Jordan Rodgers was a tall sturdy looking woman with dark blond hair. She looked about thirty-five but her file said forty. She held the same rank as Casey, Major. In fact looking over her record she had a lot in common with Casey. She joined the NSA right out of Army Ranger training. She had been on a staggering 122 missions for the NSA over a twenty year career. She was well respected in the intelligence community. Why the hell was she here?

The next woman was a breath taking blond. She was very tall, Chuck was 6'3" and this woman was just as tall as him, even without the four inch heels she was at least 5'11". the file said Kathrin Brown was born and raised in London. She moved to the US at the age of 18. She was a former Miss Ohio. She recently graduated the Farm, a very average agent with stunning looks and used for them. Much like Melissa, Kathrin was a CIA call girl.

It was the third woman that shocked him though. Samantha Glass was a Legend in the CIA. Much like Sarah, but with a famous history in the agency. Her mother was a deep cover CIA operative working in Russia during the cold war. She used her knowledge of the Russian language, and the KGB Undersecretary's love of black women to get in close with the KGB. She ended up pregnant. Samantha was the result. She stood an impressive 5'9", she had stunning good looks, and long black hair. She had light brown and green eyes, and light cappuccino colored skin. But the shocking thing about Samantha Glass was the fact that she had been missing in action for over two years. Sarah once told him she was assigned to find her but all she could come up with was a trail across the world with a dead end.

Chuck looked to Melissa and she shrugged. Chuck put the safety on and put his gun in his waistband. He stepped off the elevator and stood before them. "I expected one of two things when those doors opened. One was an empty lobby and the car in the driveway with the keys in it. The second was a lobby full of guys with assault rifles. I was either going to walk out of here, or shoot my way out of here. I did not expect to be confronted by two legends and an angle." Chuck said walking up to them. "Charles Carmichael at your service ladies." He said extending his right hand. Jordan went to shake his hand but Chuck bent over and kissed her hand. "Major Rodgers. Your record and beauty precede you." He said.

"And your record is most impressive Agent Carmichael." She said with a smile.

He turned to Samantha Glass next and she extended her hand. "Agent Glass, it's good to see you're still alive. The intelligence community can breath easy, and the hearts of men around the world are fare game once again." He said kissing her hand.

"I must say it's nice to put a face to the rising star." She said with a smile.

"And who might this stunning angle form on high be?" Chuck said taking Kathrin's hand.

"Kathrin Brown, at your service Sir." She said in her very cute accent.

"My god. You do know you shouldn't exist. An accent like that adds three points of hotness to any woman. You're a thirteen my dear and that just can not be. You can not be a mere mortal being." Chuck said brushing a light kiss across her knuckles and maintaining eye contact.

"Oh my. Agent Carmichael, you are a flatterer aren't you?" She asked with a blush.

Chuck's smile became wolfish as he ran his thumb over the top of her hand. "It's nothing but the truth my dearest Kate. Has anyone ever told you have a hypnotic smile Kate?" He asked as his hand made it to her wrist Samantha's hand reached out and stopped him.

"We don't do that to one of our own. You should know that." Samantha said in a dangerous voice.

"You'll have to excuse me agent Glass, I wasn't aware she was one of us. Plus you have to look at it from my perspective. I'm faced with two master spies, and a rooky. I don't know why you're here, and I had to make my play. Plus she does have a hypnotic smile." Chuck said with a sexy little smile at Kate making her blush.

"We are here to get you to come back upstairs agent Carmichael." Jordan Rodgers said with a smirk

"And why Major would I do that?" Chuck asked matching her smirk.

"Because if you don't come back up with us things are going to get ugly. You see we all have guns. You, me, them. All of us. And we all know how to use them. But I'm going out on a limb here when I say you won't shoot use three. You see your file doesn't say much about you personally, but there are a few underlying patterns to you that I used to draw some conclusions. One is, you're a true gentleman, you don't hit or kill women. So lets cut the crap and head up to the penthouse." Jordan said motioning to the elevator.

"Well you do have me at quite the disadvantage, but I'm done with playing the nice guy. You see that nice guy got screwed, and when that happens the nice guy stops being so nice. I'm a bit tired. Tired of taking shit form people that think they control me. So you would have been right last week. I would never shoot a woman, but today? Well that's another story. And for the record the odds are not that bad. Melissa, if I ask real nice will you shoot Agent Glass over there?" Chuck asked pinning Jordan with his eyes.

"Sure Chuck." Melissa said pulling her gun from her purse and pointing at Samantha. "Sorry Sam." she said with a sad smile.

"You see? She shoots Glass over there, I shoot you and then I cap blondie over there before she even knows what's going on. I shot my partner today. I even used his gun to do it. I didn't think I could ever do something like that, but I did, and after that I kind of felt, dead inside? Yeah that's it, we'll go with that. All I wanted to do today was meet with Roark, he is Fulcrum Command right? I wanted to meet with him, and work together to get the things we want, and then maybe fuck Melissa over there another three or four times. Instead I get shot at, held up and ended up shooting my own partner. Then I show up here and get guns shoved in my face and the bitch squad paraded around in front of me? I don't think so. I say we shot you three and walk away from this fucking place. I'll then spend the rest of my life finding very creative ways to burn this motherfucker down! So if Ted Roark want's to talk to me he can bring himself down here. If not then you either step out of my way or I put a bullet between your pretty little brown eyes." Chuck said pulling the gun from his wait and clicking the safety off and holding it at his side.

The elevator doors opened up and Ted Roark walked out. "What the hell is going on here? I asked you to escort Agent Carmichael up to the penthouse, not get into a stand off in the lobby! Agent Carmichael, I'm Ted Roark and I've been looking forward to meeting you." He said holding out his hand.

Chuck put his gun in the back of his pants and shook his hand. "Mr. Roark. It's nice to meet you. I was wondering if we can hash out the details of our arrangement quickly. I've had kind of a shitty day and I'd kind of like it to be over one way or another. We are either going to be business partners or I'm going to shoot my way out of here. Either way I plan on being in bed in an hour." Chuck said walking over to a pair of chairs on the side of the lobby, and sitting in one of them.

Ted sat in the other one. "Yes, I'm very sorry about the part I played in making this day so crappy for you, I started out the day much like you did. I thought I was going to have a friendly meeting with a future partner." Ted said with a smile. He then turned to the four women standing around with their guns drawn. "Do you ladies mind giving us some space? How about you go stand on the other side of the lobby?" He asked and they walked away.

"Well how about we start over again then?" Chuck said holding out his hand. "I'm Charles Carmichael, former CIA, now freelance spy, and computer engineer."

"Nice to meet you Charles, I'm Ted Roark, Head of Roark Industries, and Fulcrum Command." Ted said shaking his hand.

"I here you want to hire me Ted?" Chuck asked with a smile.

"I do Charles, I would really like you to work on our Intersect computer. I would also like you to go on a few missions for me in the future." Ted said returning his smile.

"That sounds like fun Ted. As you may know I was working on downloading the Intersect into an agent's head when a Jackass by the name of Bryce Larkin stole it and blew it up." Chuck said with a scowl.

"Well we've been trying to do that for a while now but we keep frying agents brains. It's a real pain in the ass Charles, I tell you we keep losing agents and wasting time on it." Ted said sadly. "We've started recruiting cast off agent from other agencies just to use as test subjects.

"Have you tried slowing the download speed down?" Chuck asked with a smirk.

"No we didn't. Why didn't we think about that?" Ted said looking off into space thinking about it.

On the other side of the room the four women leaned against the wall and watched the two men talk. Jordan turned to Melissa. "I was sure he would cave when I told him we were armed, I thought he would never shoot a woman." Jordan said.

"Normally you'd be right, just not today. He's been through a lot of shit today and I think he reached his breaking point. I told him he would be welcome here. I told him Fulcrum could extract him, with very little violence, and I said he would be treated with respect when he got here. Instead we were shot at, we got into a car crash, he had to shoot Major Casey, and then the fucking team they sent tried to hold us up like we were hostages, and not friends. After I spent the whole way here talking him down he is greeted by guys with guns and treated like shit. I think he snapped. He really is a nice guy. I know that if this deal doesn't go through I'm leaving with him. I much rather be with him then what ever asshole they tell me to screw next." Melissa said looking at the other women.

"Screw that! What was that bullshit about shooting me? That shit was not funny! I thought we were friends?" Samantha said folding her arms.

"I was only going to wing you. You know how much I like you guys, but I'm with Chuck now, he really is good to me, a lot better then the assholes in Fulcrum." Melissa said with a sad little smile.

"Is the sex really that good?" Kate asked with a blush.

"Yes, but it's more then that. I feel like a person around him, not some call girl. He treats me with respect. I like him, he's nice to me." Melissa said with a shrug.

"Wow I can't remember the last time I was treated like that. They treat me like a hooker most of the time." Kate said with a sad smile.

"Tell me about it I have to sleep in that asshole's bed every night remember? Try playing hooker to a man as nasty as Ted Roark. I'm surprised I can keep my lunch down most of the time." Jordan said making a face.

"Well if I go on any more suicide mission I'm going to end up dead." Samantha said rubbing her bruised shoulder.

"How was your last mission? I haven't seen you in a long time. Did you just get back?" Kate asked.

"Yesterday. The mission was a failure like all of my missions. I think they're on to me. Roark had this calculating look in his eyes that I didn't like. I think my next mission could be my last. If they didn't know who my sister was I wouldn't even be here right now. Do you think I like working for the enemy? Do any of you know how much I want to put a bullet in his head." Samantha said looking between her gun and Ted Roark.

"Well," Melissa said looking around for the camera. After not spotting one she motioned the other girls in closer. "I might have a way out for all of you but I need to talk to Chuck first. I want you to know he's nothing like he was tonight. Like I said he's had a very bad day, but he is the guy you thought he was from the file Jordan. He's a true gentleman. If he knew your situation he would try to help you. But I need to know right now, no fucking around, if you had an out, would you take it?" Melissa asked.

"I would, I joined Fulcrum because they said I would get real missions. Instead I get more of the same seduction missions, and almost no pay, you know how it is. But unlike you, I'm stuck here, the CIA knows I'm working for Fulcrum. I'm not like you, you could walk away any time." Kate said close to tears.

"Yeah I could walk away, but what do you think would happen to my folks? Hell knowing Fulcrum like I do now what would happen to my whole family? The children too." Melissa asked with a sad look in her eyes.

"I can't go, they have a sleeper agent watching my son. He's in USC and his roommate is a Fulcrum assassin. The second I stop playing nice he catches a bullet. You know I was a crap mother to him growing up. I can't risk his life now." Jordan said shooting a hateful glare at Ted's back.

"I'm telling you ladies give me till tomorrow and I promise you Chuck will have a plan to get all of you out and safe. I know him, I've been with him for three days and my life is nothing like it was before. I'll have Chuck come up with a plan and then tomorrow we'll go shopping and I'll tell you all about it. Trust me when I say he can do this. Do you trust me?" She asked holding out her hand.

"I trust you. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain." Kate said taking her hand.

"Look I read his file, I know he's a good agent, but I don't think I can trust my son's life to a strange person I just met today." Jordan said shaking her head.

"Then trust me. I know what his file says and I can tell you the truth is so much better then what's on paper. You've known me for a few months now, you know you can trust me." Melissa said.

"Okay, I'll come tomorrow and hear your plan, but if I don't like what I hear then I want no part of it." Jordan said.

"That's all I'm asking for." Melissa said with a sad smile.

"I'm in the same boat as Jordan. I'll agree to come and hear the plan, but I can't risk her life to some stranger." Samantha said.

"Meet you for a shopping trip tomorrow at noon here in the lobby?" Melissa asked.

They all nodded.

"And that's my theory on how the get the intersect to work for anyone. It's all about download speed." Chuck said with a shrug.

"Wow, we never even looked at that. I wonder if it will work like you said it would? We've tried everything else, I was going to try women next, you know? Maybe the different brain chemistry would be better for absorbing the information. I mean their heads are full of useless crap anyway right?" Ted said with excitement.

"Ted I like the way this conversation is going and I'd be happy to continue it some other time but I'm beat. I need a hot shower and a soft bed. Can we talk about terms?" Chuck said trying to keep a straight face. He felt sick when he heard Roark was going to start testing the Intersect on women next, he knew who one of the first test subject would have been. Chuck looked over at Melissa and was thankful he met her. If not then he would have found her name in one of the weekly information briefings. Another agent found on the street with their brain fried. Chuck felt sick.

"Oh yeah, sorry when I get going I sometimes forget to stop. It's been a while since I've talked to someone that's into computer engineering as much as I am." Ted said with a laugh. "Lets make this easy then. What do you want?" Ted asked.

"I want an apartment, one in this building would be nice. I want this apartment to be free of all monitoring devices. If I'm going to work with you then I refuse to be watched like a prisoner. The same can be said about my lab. I want lab space in your intersect room. I'll also need a big list of computers and cables and things, I'll write it all down and get it to you once I see the lab space. I want to keep Melissa on as my personal assistant. I like her, she's hot as hell and knows her way around a bedroom. I would also like Bryce Larkin dead! That one's non-negotiable. I want him dead and I want proof that he died slowly and painfully, a video of it would work. That asshole destroyed years of my work, and tried to steel my girlfriend! I also will need an expense account for any random mission needs when I'm out in the field. Besides that. I'm happy to work with you." Chuck said.

"Is that all? I can get you that and more. I can keep you swimming in women. You can have a VIP suite right under mine. I'll have my assistant issue you a company card, and as for lab space take the whole sub basement of Roark Industries. I will have a tech come by in the morning and take out the cameras. I know what you mean about being watched all the time. I feel the same way sometimes too, but I can't get out of it, my security team won't let me do anything. They're probably upstairs right now crapping themselves with worry." Ted said with a laugh. "Do you like the BMW? I can get you what ever car you like." Ted asked.

"Yeah the BMW is fine. I do think we might need to get Melissa a car though. I'll ask her. If there is nothing else? I'd like to point out the consequences of not following my rules, the threats I've made today are not bullshit. I can and I will do everything I threatened to do and more. I'm not a violent man by nature, but when I think I'm being fucked with I get very angry Ted. And when I get angry, bad things happen. I don't like doing them but I will." Chuck said resolutely.

"No I understand completely Charles. And I think form now on we are going to be great friends." Ted said.

"I hope so Ted. I like the prospect of finishing my work." Chuck said standing up.

"I'll have a maid open up your apartment and air it out. Give her about ten minutes. In the mean time do you want someone to get your bags or do you want to do it yourself?" Ted asked.

"I'll get them, thank you Ted. I look forward to talking more with you tomorrow. I'll see you around the office." Chuck said with a laugh. As he walked out of the building in up to his new car.

Ted walked over to the elevator and motioned the three women to follow him. "Jordan I want you to get a maid into the VIP rooms under the pent house. And tomorrow I need you to issue a company card for Agent Carmichael. No limit. Glass go make sure there are NO cameras in the VIP Rooms. If there are cameras I want him to see you pull them out. We need him to trust us. I was unsure when I first saw him, he looked like a crazy person, but the second he talked about computer engineering I knew he was for real. This guy can get our Intersect project up and running. And not in a year like our top tech guys are saying, I'm talking about in a few months! The only guy I knew that could have pulled this off has been dead for fifteen years. What ever this guy wants you give it to him. Talk to Barns, I want to know what she has to say about him to you three." Ted said.

"I knew you would say something like that so I set up a shopping date tomorrow for the four of us. I'll feel her out for you. She will open up to us if she thinks we're just having a friendly conversation." Jordan said with a big smile.

The elevator doors opened and Ted got off. "What ever he wants. If he wants to shoot someone in the face I want you to hand him a gun. If he wants all of you at the same time? I want you to smile and get naked. Keeping this man happy is your number one priority. That's why I called you here Agent Brown, work with Melissa to keep him happy. I don't know any man in the world that wouldn't do anything for a night with both of you." Ted said with a nasty smile as he walked away.

Jordan turned to the other two, "Come with me to clear the room? I think we need to have a talk with Charles Carmichael." She said hitting the button for the VIP floor.

Melissa helped Chuck with his bags. As they walked to the car she turned to him, "Chuck, what was all that stuff about?" She asked.

"Oh you mean the crazy person act?" He asked with a smile.

"Yes." She said. Taking a bag, and leaving him with the other three.

"Well it's like you said in the car. They want to work with me, not the other way around. I also laid the ground work for getting no surveillance. I don't think you'll have to sex me up on camera now. I'm pretty sure he think I'll kill everyone in the building if I find one bug in the room." Chuck said.

"Well that sucks! I was looking forward to sexing you up on camera! That was my master plan! Now how am I going to get you to have sex with me?" She asked pouting like a little kid that got their candy stolen.

"You'll just have to find another way. I'm very sorry I took away your excuse to sex me up." Chuck said gravely. They both broke at the same time and spent the trip threw the lobby and into the elevator laughing hysterically. If they thought Chuck was crazy before, watching him laugh like that after he threatened to kill everyone certainly cemented that idea.

When they got off on the VIP Floor the door across from the elevator was open and Samantha Glass was standing in the door way. "This will be your apartment Agent Carmichael." She said waving him in. Chuck walked in and dropped his bags in the hallway. The apartment had an open floor plan and floor to ceiling windows. The floors were green marble and the walls were a soft sage. The furniture was all different shades of green, and looked very expensive, but also very comfortable. On one of the walls was a huge flat screen TV. He saw through an open door the huge bed in the bedroom, in the kitchen was a fully stocked bar. He also saw the other two agents in the living room on the couch.

"The apartment looks great, thank you. I would like to just say how very sorry I am about the whole scene in the lobby. I can assure you I'm not like that normally. I've just had kind of a crappy day. I would like to offer you all my sincerest apology " He asked said with a sad smile as he took off his jacket and put his gun and three magazines on the coffee table.

"We accept Charles." Jordan said and the other two nodded.

"Good I want you to know I respect you three as both agents and women. I was truly shocked to see both you and Agent Glass. I would love to hear how you came to work for Fulcrum, but if there was nothing else you ladies needed I would love to sweep the room for bugs, take a hot shower, and get some sleep." Chuck said pulling off his tie and unbuttoning the top three buttons of his shirt.

"Actually you don't have to scan for bugs. There are none. I just did it." Samantha said holding up a small black box.

"Don't take this the wrong way but, I think I'll recheck it." Chuck said with a smile, pulling out an iPod and walking around the apartment. He sat in the arm chair when he was done and Melissa sat in his lap. "So what can I do for you ladies?" Chuck asked wrapping his arms around Melissa's waist.

"Your girlfriend here told us that you could get us out of here. I want to look you in the eye and ask you if you can." Samantha said.

"Well this is the first time I'm hearing about this. Honey, what are they talking about and how can I help?" Chuck asked Melissa with a smile, but his eyes asked her what the hell she was doing messing with the plan.

"Chuck, these three women are all in similar situations as I was. They need help and I think you can help them." Melissa said as she spun around in her seat and looked Chuck in the eye pleadingly.

"Okay, look I'm very tired right now, and you seam to have a handle on what's going on. Spell it out for me in very simple terms." Chuck said.

"Okay," Melissa said standing up. "All three of these women are stuck working for Fulcrum, and they don't want to. Kate here was promised real missions like I was, but unlike me, they burned her at the CIA. Now she's stuck playing call girl for Fulcrum. She want's out." Melissa said standing behind Kate.

"Is that true?" Chuck asked with sympathetically.

"Yes it is Charles." Kate said sadly as tears pooled in her soft brown eyes.

"And Samantha was forcibly recruited by Fulcrum. Tell him what you told me. It's okay." Melissa said to Samantha as she touched her shoulder.

"They told me if I didn't work for them they would kidnap my sister and torture her in front of me. You know what they do to females in that situation Charles, I can't let them do that to my sister." Samantha said with a hard edge to her voice.

"I understand your situation. I too have a sister. I sent her away before any of this started. I promise you I will do everything I can to help your sister." Chuck said looking sick. He could only imagine Ellie in that situation.

"And what can you do Charles? What can you do to help us? Can you save her sister? How can you do it working for Fulcrum? Working for the man that's got us all by the proverbial balls?" Jordan asked standing up and pacing the room.

"I'm guessing your situation is similar to agent Glass?" Chuck asked.

"They have a sleeper agent posing as my son's room mate. I don't play the part of Ted Roark's whore they kill him. The man is obsessed with me, and he's a sick bustard." Jordan said with distain.

"That's rape! Forcing you to sleep with him like that." Chuck said with a deep scowl.

"No it's not rape. It's more like forced prostitution. Unlike rape, I have to pretend to like it. And I'm starting to think you can't do anything to get us out of here. You can't do a damned thing working for Fulcrum yourself." Jordan said with anger.

"Well Jordan, you asked me what I could do for your son, or Samantha's sister, and the answer is, Nothing. But my team on the other hand, they can do a lot. I believe you know them as Agent Sarah Walker of the CIA and Major John Casey of the NSA." Chuck said with a smile.

The look of recognition passed over all three faces. "But the report said you killed Major Casey." Kate said looking confused. Chuck looked at her and smiled his wolfish smile.

"Your deep cover then?" Samantha asked with a knowing smile. Jordan looked from Chuck's face to Samantha before she too smiled.

"I don't get it. So you didn't shoot Major Casey?" Kate asked looking between the people in the room.

"No I did, and with his own gun too." Chuck said picking up the gun in question.

"He's deep cover Kate. He's working on bringing down Fulcrum. Casey was probably wearing a vest." Samantha said.

"No he was not. They needed to see blood so I really shot him. I got him right here in the chest." Chuck said pointing at the spot he shot Casey on his chest.

"I know John's crazy but I didn't know he was that crazy. If you were off by just a few inches you could have killed him." Jordan said looking horrified.

"Yeah well I do have a few advantages I'll tell you about later, but for now is there a way for them to track cell calls from inside the building?" Chuck asked.

"No, they don't have a way to do that." Samantha said. "But they will be monitoring this Cell phone" She said handing him a Black Berry. "All Fulcrum agents carry them and they're bugged for call recording, and GPS tracking. The number is on the back." She said pointing to the black phone.

"Good to know, thanks. I'll use one of the burner phones I've got to call Casey and tell him what's going on." Chuck said looking the Blackberry over.

"I was planning to take them to Castle tomorrow to get the ball rolling. We set up a shopping trip for the afternoon. I need to stop off at my apartment to get clothes anyway. I'm out so I left my bag in Casey's SUV. " Melissa said.

"Good idea, I let him know you're coming." Chuck said. "Do you all live here in the building?" Chuck asked sitting back down with Melissa sitting on the arm of his chair.

"I live with Roark. I'm basically what Melissa was supposed to be for you. A toy for the bedroom and an personnel assistant everywhere else." Jordan said looking Ill.

"I have a small apartment on the third floor, but I'm usually off doing missions for them. I just got back from Afghanistan. I was supposed to try to start a war between the heroin growers to jack up the price of the drug trade. Half of Fulcrum is funded by drugs. The other half is funded by Roark Industries." Samantha said rubbing her shoulder and looking out the window.

"I have the apartment next to hers. But for the past three months I've been in D.C. working on keeping the east coast Fulcrum big wigs happy. I was recalled so I could work you over to keep you happy. I'm supposed to get together with Melissa and work on a good time for us to have a threesome. I guess I won't have to do that now so I'll be reassigned." Kate said sadly.

"Well we don't have to tell Roark that. How would you like to spend the night here sometimes, you and Melissa can take the bed I'll sleep on the couch and we can tell him I'm keeping you around as a play thing too. In fact I don't see why we can't do the same thing with all of you. He's a sick bustard and he thinks I'm one too, if I tell him I want you three he'll okay it." Chuck said with a smile.

"That would work. He basically said that to us in the elevator." Kate said excitedly.

"It's getting late and we can't be here too long without drawing attention to ourselves." Samantha said standing up.

Chuck stood up and walked over to the bar he grabbed the bottle of Johnny Walker and met them at the door. "Here take a sip and swish it around in your mouth, and put some on your clothes. If Roark asked you what took so long tell him you saw I was drinking and decided to join me. He want's you to keep me entertained right? Tell him you started tonight by getting me drunk." Chuck said passing the bottle around.

"Good thinking Charles." Jordan said taking a swig form the bottle before handing it off to Samantha.

"Please ladies, call me Chuck, besides we're supposed to be friends remember?" Chuck said.

"In that case call me Sam." Samantha said.

"And you can call me Kate." Kate said taking a drink and making a face .

"Since we are being so informal you can call me Jordan." Jordan said with a laugh as she took another drink. At the raised eyebrows she just shrugged. "What you know what I have to do every night. You try doing that sober." Jordan said making a face.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow ladies." Chuck said as they left. He went into one of his bags and pulled out a burn phone. He called Casey.

"Is everything okay? You're breaking protocol again Chuck." Casey said.

"I know big guy, they are treating me like a VIP, not a prisoner. I did what you said, I didn't take crap from no one. I made then beg me to work for them. I don't think Melissa will need to carry information back and forth between us. I think I'm going to call and check in every night. I'll keep you up to date on what's going on." Chuck said laughing.

"That's unbelievable! How the hell did you pull this off?" Casey said shaking his head. The kid had a gold horseshoe up his ass.

"I acted like you, Mad Dog Carmichael lives again. They think if they piss me off I'll kill every last one of them. They think I'm like you used to be when we first started working together. I even talked about getting pancakes after I shot a few of them." Chuck said with a big smile Casey could hear over the phone.

"Good job son. You did real good." Casey said feeling very proud.

"Yeah, I'm just that good, but that's not what I called you for. I just had a very interesting meeting with three women. Two of them you know. A Major Jordan Rodgers, and an agent Samantha Glass. The last one was a rooky CIA agent named Kate Brown. They are all in similar situations to Melissa and they all want out. I think we can help them and gain a few new team members. Melissa set up a shopping trip for tomorrow after noon, she's going to stop off at a frozen yogurt shop before they hit the stores. I think their time would be better spent talking to you and Sarah. So why don't you have a few agents do the shopping with their GPS tracked cell phones and let the ladies stay at the yogurt shop?" Chuck said.

"Your joking? Major Rodgers and Agent Glass? Wow you have been busy. I agree with you. I mean, you've been right so far, I'm not going to start questioning your judgment now. You know you're going to get an Intelligence Star for this mission right?" Casey asked with a laugh.

"Well what can I say? When you're a badass like me you come to expect things like that." Chuck said flippantly.

"Alright wise guy, I'll be waiting for them tomorrow." Casey said hanging up.

"We're all set for tomorrow." Chuck said to Melissa as he took off his shirt and pants and climbed into bed. Melissa dropped her skirt and shirt and took off her bra. She fished a white tee shirt out of Chuck's bag and put it on. "No, help your self to my things." Chuck said sarcastically, but the smile on his face took away all of the sting.

"What? Would you rather me sleep topless?" She asked pulling the shirt up.

"No, keep the shirt. I've seen your boobs way more then I'm comfortable with. Now kill the light and come to bed, I'm really tired and I have a big day tomorrow. I start my first day at my dream job. Working for Roark Industries." Chuck said putting his gun on the bed side table.

"Working for Roark is your dream job?" She asked sliding into bed next to him.

"Yeah, if my life would have gone right, I would have been working there for the last six years now. Of course if my life would have turned out the way it should have I wouldn't have met Sarah or Casey, and I wouldn't be sharing a bed with one of the worlds most beautiful women." Chuck said wrapping an arm around her and pulling her tight to him.

She laughed "Good pick up line." She said before she sighed contentedly as she snuggled closer to him. "Good night Chuck." She said softly as she held his hand.

"Good night Melissa, sweet dreams." He said softly back kissing the top of her head before falling into a deep restful sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Sarah was sitting on a CIA G6 jet headed for Las Vegas. They only had about another hour to go before they would be making their final approach. Carina was in the seat across from her snoring. Looking at her friend she was once again shocked by how much sound could come from such a small woman. She knew she should be sleeping like Carina, but she was too keyed up to sleep. Looking at her watch she saw it was about 9:30 PM local time. She had spent the whole after noon in Beckman's office getting yelled at. That all stopped when she pulled out her iPhone and called the President on his secure line and handed the Phone to the General. Three minutes on the phone with the President changed the General's tone real fast. After that conversation it was all "What can I do to help you?" And "Any thing you need will be given to you at your request." she left that office with priority one use of any Government plane she wanted, including the fleet of ten G6 jets the CIA maintained. She was also reimbursed the money she spent on the mission so far. Even the twenty thousand she spent buying Chuck's Christmas present. The 1970 Boss 429 Mustang sitting in the parking garage of the MGM.

Man he loved that car. The second he sat behind the wheel and fired up the big V8 the smile never left his face. At one of the gas stations they stopped at he bought a pair of black and white fuzzy dice and hung them from the mirror. When she asked him why he looked at her like she was crazy and shrugged. "Because?" he said like it was a very dumb thing to ask. She just laughed at him. She thought about her Chuck, what was he doing right now? How did his meeting go? Was he even alive? She felt her chest constrict at the thought. She couldn't think like that. He was okay, she would know if he wasn't by now.

She pulled out her iPhone and opened her picture file, she clicked on the folder marked Chuck and flipped through the images. She stopped on one taken during a mission at the French Embassy. It was a black tie event and the picture was taken by another guest as a distraction so Casey could slip a shell fish extract into a terrorist's drink giving him an allergic reaction. The shot was of her and Chuck standing together with the French Foreign minister . She wore a long red ball gown that night, it showed off a lot of cleavage and had a long split up the side to draw attention to her long legs. Chuck had on a black Armani tuxedo that fit him very well. She remembered answering her apartment door and staring dumbly at him for a good thirty seconds. Man he looked good in a tux. When they had their real wedding after this mission was over he was definitely wearing that tux for it. And this time at the end of the night, instead of saying good night outside by the fountain she could do what she wanted to do that night, she would take him to his room, sit on the bed, and make him strip for her. She would watch as he pulled off his jacket, and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. She licked her lips thinking about him unzipping his pants. She felt a wave of heat rush up her body as she thought about the things she would do to him. She was so into it that she didn't notice Carina wake up.

"Thinking about Chuck?" She asked causing Sarah to jump.

"What? Yeah. Why?" Sarah said putting her phone away.

"Cause your flushed and your nipples are hard enough to cut glass. Were you looking at nudey pictures?" Carina asked laughing.

"No I was not! I was looking at a picture of us at a ball at the French Embassy." She said taking her phone back out and showing it to Carina.

"Oh my but he does fill out a tux nicely. I wouldn't mind getting the live show of that." Carina said winking.

"Hey what did I say about seducing my man?" Sarah said angrily, but her smile took all of the sting out of her words.

"Hey what can I say? He's hot." Carina said shrugging.

"You should see him now. He looks, dresses, and acts like an agent. He's got confidence now and it's the hottest thing I've ever seen in my life. The morning I left for D.C. he introduced himself to me as Agent Charles Carmichael and told me we could get a drink after he was done with his mission so we can talk about our respective reputations. Carina I tell you, I almost ripped his robe off and went for it. God he's so hot. I can't wait to get him alone." Sarah said blushing.

"Wow, you really got it bad." Carina said with a laugh.

"Just you wait and see, I'm going to have to beat you back with a stick. He's found this untapped raw animalistic sexual side. He so sexy now. I'm telling you Carina, he had me begging for it, begging." Sarah said fanning her self.

"No way. You've gone too far now. No one makes The Great Sarah Walker beg for anything. Men fall at your feet and offer you whatever you want! You've taken this joke too far." Carina said waving her off.

"Just remember what I said. I'll kill you if you touch him. I'm not joking about that." Sarah said with a smirk.

"So why are we flying to Vegas instead of just flying to Burbank?" Carina asked standing up to get a bottle of water.

"We need to close out the room and get Chuck's car. We're going to drive it back tomorrow morning." Sarah said picking up an apple off the basket behind her and pulling a knife from her boot.

"So were going to spend the night in Vegas? Can we hit the clubs?" Carina asked making a face at the Sarah.

"Yes, I plan on getting some sleep, I don't care if you hit the clubs as long as you meet me in front of the MGM at 7am. We have to get on the road. It's a four hour drive to get to Burbank, and I want to get there before lunch. What's with the face?" She asked cutting a slice of apple.

"Is that even sanitary? You use those knives for everything." Carina said pointing to her throwing knife.

"I Washed It! It's a lot cleaner then some of the things you've put in your mouth." Sarah said throwing an apple slice at her. Her phone rang and she saw it was Casey. Now that the mission was official they could use their iPhones again. They would give the rest of the burn phones to Chuck as one time use phones to call them in emergency situations he had two of them now but the rest would go back with Melissa. "What's going on Casey?" She asked sitting up and dropping her half eaten apple on the chair next to her.

"Chuck just called, he said he met three women that want out of Fulcrum like Melissa. She's bringing them by Castle tomorrow." Casey said with a smile.

"How can we trust this? It could be a play by Fulcrum to test his loyalty! They could be killing him right now Casey!" She said feeling her heart rate speed up.

"Relax, I think we can trust these women, well two of them at least. One of them is Major Jordan Rodgers. I don't know if you know her but she's basically me with boobs. She's an honorable agent that quit the NSA suddenly about eight months ago without a good reason. I think they have some kind of leverage over her. She's not the type to work for the enemy. The other one is Agent Samantha Glass." Casey said.

"Agent Glass!? Are you sure?" Sarah asked standing up and pacing.

"Yeah I'm sure, Chuck told me. I'm sure, because he's sure. The last one is a rooky that got burned by the CIA for working with Fulcrum. I'm thinking she's like Melissa. Chuck want's to recruit them to the team. Could you imagine Agent Glass and Major Rodgers working with us? We'd be unstoppable!" Casey said excitedly.

"When are they getting to Castle?" Sarah asked.

"Just after noon. Can you get here for the meeting, I want you to look them over and see if they're lying. You're better at that stuff then I am." Casey said.

"Yeah we can make it. It's a four hour drive and we're leaving at 07:00. We should be there with an hour to spare." Sarah said.

"Good I'll see you tomorrow Walker." Casey said.

"Something wrong?" Carina asked.

"Maybe. You worked with agent Glass before right?" Sarah asked picking up her discarded apple.

"Yeah, I ran a bunch of ops. with her about four years ago. Very good agent, she was probably more like you then anyone I've ever worked with. She was very by the book and absolutely loved to hate me in a friendly way. We worked well together. Very ridged when it comes to planning and sticking to that plan. The second best agent I've ever worked with next to you. I know and love her sister Bobby. Very nice girl. She's still looking for her you know. If you have any information about her I would like to know so I can tell Bobby." Carina said.

"Bobby?" Sarah asked.

"Roberta Glass, she goes by the name Bobby, she's like four years younger then Sam, so she's our age. They're half sisters, but very close. Sam took care of Bobby most of her life. The day Sam went missing Bobby lost her mind a bit. She's a really good analyst, she crunches data like a computer. I always thought she has Aspergers you know? But she's just super smart. She scored something like 1590 on her SATs and like 190 on her IQ test. She works out of Langley. She a nice girl, I stop by from time to time to see her when I can. I've sort of adopted her since Sam disappeared. She's like a little sister to me." Carina said with a sad look in her eyes.

"Well Chuck found Sam. She's working for Fulcrum." Sarah said with fake distain to judge Carina's reaction. And react she did.

Carina shot out of her set and yelled, "WHAT!? No Fucking Way! Not Sam, not in a million years would she work for them! She was raised as an agent by an agent. Taught that the only sin worse then killing innocent people is treason. The day Sam Glass works for the enemy is the day hell freezes over!" Carina yelled getting in Sarah's face.

"Carina sit down, Sit Down Now! What I said was true. But the reason she is working for them is because of her sister probably. They most likely threatened to torture Bobby in front of Sam, we both know what that means. So she's working for them." Sarah said.

"They touch one hair on Bobby's head and I'll execute every last one of those motherfuckers!" Carina said drawing her gun.

"Calm down Carina, we will figure out what's going on and protect Bobby. The same thing is happening to an agent Casey knows from the NSA, a Major Jordan Rodgers. Also working for them and wanting to get out is a New CIA agent named Kate Brown. Chuck met all three of them tonight. Melissa let slip that Chuck could help them get out, and Chuck being Chuck told them what's going on. They are meeting us at Castle tomorrow. I can't believe him. How can he be so stupid? Telling enemy agents what's going on?" Sarah said disappointedly.

"Maybe he saw something in them. Like he did with Melissa. You once told me you trusted his judgment. Now it's time to put that to the test. I know Sam, she would never work for Fulcrum. Never. And I'm guessing this Major Jordan Rodgers wouldn't either. That leaves this Kate Brown. If she's not on the level we can lock her up and the other two can say she wondered off and never came back. I say we go into this meeting tomorrow and play three different angles. But first we need to separate them. I'll take Sam. I know what she looks like when she lies. You take Kate Brown, you're the best at deception reading. You can cold read her, also I think if she is the week link you can spot it fast and help Casey with Major Rodgers. We need them to tell us what they said to Chuck. Melissa will be there to confirm the story. After they check out we need to get them up to speed and we need to look into the things they say." Carina said.

"I agree." Sarah said. She looked out the window and saw the strip. "Sit down, we're on our final approach. We'll be on the ground in a few minutes." Sarah said buckling her seatbelt.

When the plan landed they left the airport and hopped into a cab. When they got to the MGM Sarah approached the front desk. "Welcome to the MGM Grand, how my I help you?" The girl behind the desk asked.

"Yes, I was here with my husband Charles Carmichael three days ago, I had to leave on an emergency and he was arrested. He put a bunch of money on the room account and I wanted too see if it's still open." Sarah said.

"Yes the room is still open, and the account still has 8,245 dollars on it. Would you like a key card for the room?" The girl asked.

"Yes please, also I'll be checking out tomorrow morning. I was wondering if you can cash out the 8,000 dollars credit on the room?" Sarah said.

"We can do that for you ma'am. How would you like that?" She asked opening the reregister.

"Hundreds will be fine." Sarah said and was handed a stack of 80 one hundred dollar bills. She took ten off the top and handed them to Carina. "Leave the luggage and have fun, but the car leaves at 0700 sharp. If your not in it I'll leave your ass." Sarah said taking her bag and Carina's one suit case and walking to the elevator. She got up to the room and stripped down to her underwear and grabbed one of Chuck's Band tees that she took from him and pulled it on. She inhaled his smell off the shirt and laid on the bed. "I miss you Chuck." She said as she fell into a deep sleep thinking about her Chuck.

Chuck woke up in the same position he did yesterday. Him spooned up to Melissa, his right hand cupping her left breast, and his face buried in her hair. He opined his eyes and moved his hand.

"You know Chuck a girl can develop doubts if you keep doing that. What, you don't love me no more?" She asked with a pout.

"Melissa, you are by far one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in my life. I am however happily married to Sarah Walker, and if she thought I was feeling you up every night she might get angry. And when she's angry she tends to hurt people. Now I'm not saying that I'm afraid of my wife, it's just, I'm afraid of my wife!" Chuck said before he rolled over laughing. Melissa rolled over with him also laughing.

"I know, but if your hand is on my boob you don't have to hurry up and pull away like that. It makes me feel cold. Look we're two adults, we're friends, and Sarah will think the whole thing is funny. She'll think it's funny because she knows you would never cheat on her. And for the record cupping my boob in your sleep is not cheating. It's just natural. You're a guy, I'm a girl. We spooned last night, we didn't fork, and your hand went were it was supposed to go. And that's just what I'm going to tell Sarah when I see here later today. Now hold me and go back to sleep, it's only like six, you don't have to be in the office at any set time and I don't have to go anywhere for another six hours." She said grabbing his arm and rolling them back over into the spooned position. She pulled his arm around her stomach and sighed. "That's much better. Now go back to sleep." She said falling back to sleep. Chuck thought about what she said. He didn't have to be in at any time. So he snuggled in to Melissa and fell back to sleep dreaming of his blonde bombshell wife.

Sarah's alarm clock rang at 5:45 AM and she rolled out of bed with a sigh. She had been dreaming about seducing Chuck in the home theater room at the Buy More. She had been wearing a smutty Nerd Herd outfit and she had just gotten to the good part, pulling off his pants, when the alarm rang. She was really staring to hate alarm clocks. She rolled out of bed and took a shower. She dressed in a pair of jeans and a green sweater. She put on a pair of low heeled black boots and pulled her hair back. She knew she was driving this morning because there was no sign of Carina yet. She was not kidding, she would leave her here if she didn't get back before seven. As it was 6:30 AM right now she had half an hour.

Half hour later Sarah was sitting in Chuck's car at the end of the driveway. She looked at the clock on the dashboard and checked it against her watch. 6:59 AM she started up the big V8 and flipped down the factory looking stereo face plate. She pulled a CD marked "Wedding play list one" and put it in. she skipped to the sixth track and pulled out her pen. She had three of these CD's to go through and so far CD one was all good. The Hall and Oats song Sarah Smile came on and she hit skip. She marked an x in the box next to the track number. She hated that song. The next track started up, Journey's Faithfully. She put a check mark next to the number and looked at the clock. 7AM. She shook her head and put the car in gear. Just as she was pulling out of her spot a Rolls Royce Phantom came screaming into the drive way and stopped next to the Mustang. The back door opened and a Saudi oil prince stepped out. He handed Carina from the car. She looked nothing like she did last night. Gone was the jeans and black top, in their place was a short red cocktail dress and jewel incrusted high heeled sandals. Around her neck was enough diamonds and rubies to buy a vary big house. Her hair was done up and she had on enough makeup for two faces. The prince bent over and kissed her hand before getting back in his car and driving off. Carina walked around to the passenger side and got in.

"What!?" she asked at Sarah's cocked eyebrow.

"It's 7:01 AM, your late! And what are you wearing?" Sarah said driving away form the Casino.

"Well I was playing poker at the high rollers table at the Bellagio, and winning I might add when I met Ali back there. He invited me to a VIP party at this new club, and I couldn't go in what I was wearing last night, so I hit up the Coevally store. And you know how those Saudi oil guys are. You tell then you like diamonds they give you something like this." She said pointing at her chest.

"Well you're still late and you didn't sleep. How are you going to interrogate an agent like Glass? Did you drink anything?" She asked. As she put a check mark next to the next song.

"Well I did have some Cristal, but it was like four hours ago. I'm good to go." Carina said.

"Well you have four hours to sleep it off." Sarah said turning on to the expressway.

Carina shrugged, "I'm good really. I feel okay. Not even tipsy." She said pulling off her shoes and tossing them in the back seat.

"Hey Watch The Leather! You're going to rip the seat with them spiky hooker heels." Sarah said looking at the back seat with the rear view mirror.

"Relax! It's just a car. I'll by you a new one." Carina said putting her feet on the dashboard.

"It's not just a car, it's Chuck's car. I bought it for him for Christmas. He doesn't know it yet, but it's his car." Sarah said with a smile.

"How can he not know it's his car? It's his right?" Carina said.

"When I tossed him the keys and said Marry Christmas I think he thought I meant: here you can drive, but I really meant it's your car. I can't wait till he sees it after the mission. He really loves this car." Sarah said caressing the wooden steering wheel. If she was being honest she would admit she really liked it too. It was so, raw, unlike her Porsche it had no ABS, or traction control. It was made of metal, and leather and it didn't even know what carbon fiber was. It was made for power and looks. It didn't have air bags or anything like that. It was simple. And she really liked that. When she got it to Burbank she was going to take it a shop and upgrade the breaks, wheels and tires, as well as get a tune up. She also wanted to get it waxed and buffed. She looked at the fuzzy dice hanging off the mirror and smiled.

The song changed to YMCA by the Village People and she hit the skip button so fast Carina didn't even know what the song was. she marked an x by the song and scratched it off the list. Eric Clapton's Layla came on and she checked the box.

"What's up with the songs?" Carina asked.

"Chuck made three CD's of different music and I'm going to pick songs from those CD's for the wedding. This CD has the classics on it." Sarah said taping on the wheel to the beat.

"Let me see that CD?" Carina asked. She looked over the titles and made a face. "All of these songs suck. I'm going to have a terrible time at your wedding." She said handing the CD case back.

"Well you can always stay home." Sarah said with a smirk.

"How is the Made of Honor going to stay home?" Carina asked confused.

"Wow that was very presumptive of you. Who said your even in the wedding party?" Sarah asked.

"Come on, who are you going to ask beside me?" Carina asked.

"I was thinking Chuck's sister, or Zondra." Sarah said flippantly.

"Zondra!? You would pick your mortal enemy over your best friend?" Carina ask outraged.

"Actually Chuck thinks it's Amy that's the traitor in the C.A.T. Squad. After this missions over and before the wedding I want you to set up a meeting with them. He was talking to me about it last week. He said something about that drug dealer in Mexico. He said something about it being funny that she picked that moment to mess up. I don't know? Some times he talks so fast I lose track of what he's saying. All I know is he thinks she's dirty. And that means Zandra is clean. So she's in the wedding. I'm thinking Made of Honor?" Sarah said trying really hard to keep the smile off of her face.

"You wouldn't dare! You would pick someone over me? Your sister in all but blood?" Carina asked close to tears.

"Of course not you big dummy. But I'll worn you now, no crazy bachelorette party! I want something low key. Just us ladies at the spa, or smoothing like that. No parties like you had last night." Sarah said.

"Way to kill the fun, fun killer! But okay. If that's what you want." Carina said like someone shot her dog.

"Come on, it wont be so bad. Now help me pick songs for my wedding." Sarah said.

Carina leaned over and hugged her. "I love you, you know that right?" Carina said getting teary eyed.

"I know. I love you too." Sarah said.

Chuck was dreaming about Sarah. She was wearing a white bikini on an empty beach. She was playing in the surf when she turned to look at him. When her eyes locked with his her smile gained a sexy edge. "Enjoying the show?" She asked.

"I am." Chuck said with a big goofy smile.

"Well why don't you join me then?" She said with a sassy little smirk.

"Okay." Chuck said standing up and running in to the water and up to her. She jumped into his arms and kissed him so hard he feel over on the beach. Sarah landed on top of him. "I always wanted to make love in the waves." She said untying her top.

Chuck ran his hands up her body and cupped breasts in his hands. He squeezed them making her moan. She grinded her crotch on him, and he was instantly hard. He was just about to untie her bikini bottoms when he was shaken awake. He was plastered to Melissa's back and his hardness was pressed against her butt. His thumb was hooked under the waistband of her panties. "Chuck I think that dream you're having about Sarah is getting to the graphic part and if you don't stop now you are going to cross a line I can't explain to Sarah." Melissa said in a heavy whisper.

Chuck slowly removed his hand, and rolled away from her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No Chuck, it's okay. Like I said I know what happened, and I think we can call this situation funny. We've done a lot worse then feeling each other up. Trust me we're all good, but I think you need a cold shower. A long one, very long." She said laughing.

"This is not funny." Chuck said sitting up.

"Come on Chuck, after everything we've been through yesterday, hell the last three days. I think we're okay. Now relax and go get ready for your first day at work. It's 8:45AM all ready." She said standing up. She walked into the bathroom and came out five minutes later in a white bath robe. "Hit the shower, I'm going to see if they have any food in this place or maybe they have room service? I'll find out." She said walking out of the bedroom. Chuck grabbed his wash bag from his suitcase and took a shower. When he came out he shaved his four day old stubble into a proper beard shape. He liked it. It gave him a sharper jaw line and added an edge to his look. He put on the other bathrobe and walked out into the bedroom. He saw a dark blue three piece suit, white dress shirt, black silk boxer shorts, and red tie laid out on the bed for him. He smiled and shook his head, but then he shrugged and put it on. He walked out of the bedroom to find her sitting at the table eating on omelet, he took the seat across from her and she wolf whistled. "I knew that would look good. I like the beard, it looks very bad boy. It's sexy." She said with an exaggerated sexy voice.

"So you like what you see?" Chuck asked giving her the eyebrow dance.

She laughed at him. "I still don't know how it works, your power over me I mean. I think you're absolutely goofy. Not cool at all. But yet if you gave me that predatory smile and told me to strip I wouldn't be able to get out of my clothes fast enough. I tell you it's a mystery." She said as she handed him a plate with an big omelet it and a glass of orange juice.

"It's like you said yesterday. You're not attracted to Chuck, you're hot for agent Carmichael." Chuck said.

"Yeah I totally am. He's hot." She said laughing.

"Where'd you get the food, it's too good for you to have made it." Chuck said with a smirk.

"Why you dirty bustard! I'll have you know I'm a good cook. But for your information this is room service. I'm guessing most of the people that live here are single, fresh out of college, kids. They have a full menu of foods you can order from and they bring it up to you." She said.

"Wow if this place wasn't run by a traitor, and evil bustard I would love living here." Chuck said sarcastically.

"Right? And these robes are so soft. I can't wait to put it on after I come out of the shower!" She said running her hands over the material.

"Oh I have already. It's nice. Real nice. But you might want to try out the tub. Have you seen it? It's got like fifty water jets in it and like ten settings!" Chuck said pointing to the bathroom with his fork.

"No kidding? Well I know what I'm doing for the next two hours. It's too bad I don't have my iPod with me." She said with a dreamy look on her face.

"You can barrow mine it's in my bag. I've got a list of songs for the wedding on it. I've been trying to narrow the list down." Chuck said.

"Thanks Chuck. That will be great." She said.

"Oh hey before I forget. I'm going to the office and your going to be without wheels. You're going to need your own car. Do you have a car?" Chuck asked.

"I do, but it's a crap bucket '94 Mazda Miata. I almost never use it. I'm always being picked up in limos and town cars." She said.

"Really?" He asked confused.

"Chuck think about it. When you go on a mission with Sarah to a fancy party, do you drive or do you get a car service to take you?" She asked.

"Casey usually drives us in a limo." Chuck said.

"Well that's pretty much all I do. I attend parties as a NSA call girl and on my days off I attend parties as a Fulcrum call girl. And when I'm not doing that I spend a few weeks in a bunker like we just were in. That's how I can give you the tour of the room I've never seen, I've spent mounts in them, and they all look the same." She said bitterly.

"Well you're a real agent now, with real missions. And a spy needs a car. What ever you want I can swing it with Roark. He said so last night. Also anything you need. Make a list and get it to Jordan, she's acting as his assistant, the same as you are, well at lest that's what he thinks. And when you see my wife later today tell her I need more suits. I only have the three that were in the bag and I like that look for Carmichael. It's like you said yesterday the suit is half the image. Black and gray I think." Chuck said looking at his jacket cuff.

"What brand are they?" She asked.

"I'm not sure." Chuck said he looked inside and saw the Armani tag.

"Oh Armani, I like. I must say the suit really does something for you." She said touching his arm.

"I really like the material, and it just hangs so nice." Chuck said.

"As it should, that suit cost about three grand." She said with a laugh.

"No kidding? Wow. I had no idea. I don't know anything about fashion." Chuck said standing up and putting his plate on the room service cart.

"Tell Jordan I want an Aston Martin DB9. I'm a real spy now. I need a real spy car." Melissa said.

"Okay. I'll tell her." Chuck said pulling his laptop case out of the tactical bag. He opened the front flap and put the extra Sig229 in it along with three extra mags. He grabbed his gun off the night stand and tucked it in his back.

"Chuck I was kidding." She said.

"Well I'm not, we're going to be living a lie for three weeks. We might as well look the part. I want more really expensive suits, you want a spy car. It all goes to firming up the cover. You also need a bunch of clothes. You have to look the part of a really high paid assistant/ my girlfriend. Charles Carmichael has taste, his girlfriend should look the part as well." Chuck said airily.

"I get it. And you be careful out there. I'll drop by the office later today and tell you how it went." She said standing up.

"Walk me to the door and give me a kiss, there's a camera in the hall. We have to sell it." He said walking to the door.

"Well if I'm going to sell it I might as well put on a show." She said dropping her robe and pulling off his shirt before putting the robe back on and tying it loosely. He opened the door and she walked out with him. He faced the camera and she kissed him. It was a hot and steamy kiss that lasted a good two minutes and left her gasping. Chuck smirked and walked to the elevator. "Have a good day at work." She said with a dreamy smile on her face. When he walked into the elevator she went back inside.

At the lobby Chuck saw the same doorman from last night. When he approached the counter he flinched. "Relax, man. I'm not going to hurt you, I mean unless you give me a reason to. You're not going to do that are you?" Chuck asked in a voice dripping with menace.

"No sir, Agent Carmichael sir." He said in fear.

"Hey! Lets keep the Agent thing on the down low. Call me Mr. Carmichael, and my girl is Ms. Barns. I expect the same level of respect shown to her as you do me. Now can you have my car brought up?" Chuck asked with a big smile that didn't reach his eyes. His eyes stayed hard, and cold.

"Yes sir, right away sir." He said running outside. Chuck smirked.

His car was pulled up to the front door and the doorman walked out. "I left it running for you sir." He said.

"Good, see you around." Chuck said sounding menacing.

Chuck spent the ten minute drive laughing at the doorman. He was never a tough guy. In fact he had always been kind of a wimp. That included getting beat up by a girl in the third grade. But now he understood the key to being a tough guy. The secret, the Rosetta Stone that made you a tough guy was: Reputation. If people though you were a tough guy, if they thought you would kick there ass, then they feared you, and if they feared you? They didn't want to find out if that reputation was true or not. Thinking back he remembered his interrogation of that guy from Sarah's high school. He believed Chuck was a tough guy and so he talked. He thought he was some kind of Mad Dog as Casey said. Chuck's laughing died down as he pulled into the parking garage next to Roark Industries. He pulled up to the guard station and the guard walked up to his car. "Clearance badge?" He asked holding out his hand.

"Don't have one. I was hired yesterday and I didn't get one." Chuck said adopting his Carmichael face.

"Well if you don't have a badge you can't park in the garage." The guard said.

Chuck scowled, but then he smiled. "Okay." he said before putting the car in reverse and backed out of the garage, and cut the wheel pulling off a reverse 180. He slammed the car into drive and floored the pedal aiming for the front entrance. When he got twenty feet before the glass front doors he slammed on the breaks and jerked the wheel right sliding to a halt six feet in front of the doors. Three security guards with M4s ran out of the building and pointed their guns at Chuck.

"Put your hands up and step out of the car!" One yelled.

Chuck took one look at them and shrugged. He open the door and stepped out with his computer case. He took a step and the guards moved threateningly. He stopped and smiled at them. "The guy at the parking garage said I couldn't park there so I'm parking here." Chuck said walking towards the front door. One of the guards nervously pulled the trigger and shot the cement wall next to Chuck. Chuck pulled his gun and shot the guard in the shoulder putting him on the ground. The other two returned fire and Chuck hit the ground shooting them both in the shoulder and drooping them to the ground. He stood up and brushed his suit off. As he did he saw a bullet hole through the back of his jacket. He instantly saw red and took two big steps and kicked the guard closest to him in the nuts as hard as he could. "This is Armani you shit head! I should kill you right now!"

Jordan came running out of the building with her Sig229 drawn. When she saw it was him she lowered her gun and palmed her face. "What did you do now?" She asked tucking her gun in her back.

"Nothing. I parked my car and these assholes shot at me. I put them down with non-lethal shots, but one of these assholes ruined my suit! And when I find out which one I'm going to kill them very slowly!" Chuck growled out scaring the carp out of the three.

"Agent Carmichael. If I apologize and buy you a new suit will you let them live?" She asked smiling. She knew what he was doing, he was establishing a reputation. Crazy Agent Carmichael strikes again she thought.

"I can see that happening if you agree to let me take you out to dinner some time." Chuck said with his wolfish smile, and his charming tone of voice.

Jordan blushed. Oh he was good. He just gave her a night off from having to service Ted Roark. She looked him in the eye and he nodded his head ever so slightly. Oh he was very good. She would have to see if his team was as good as he was. If they were, she knew she was going to make it out of her current situation. "I can agree to those terms Agent Carmichael." She said walking up to him with a sexy smile.

Chuck pulled off his jacket and tossed it at the downed guard. "That was one of my favorite suits. Normally I'd kill you where you lay. I want you to look at this beautiful woman standing here and thank her for sparing your worthless little lives. Because to me, that suit is worth more then all three of you, I would spread the word to your friends. They fuck up another one of my suits I'll end them with out even blinking." Chuck said using his Casey impression. The guard on the floor whimpered and Chuck smiled an evil smile. He tucked his gun in his back under his vest as he opened the door and lead Jordan through it by the small of her back. Ted Roark was standing in the lobby with a scared look on his face.

"Charles I hope this doesn't mess up our agreement?" He asked in a voice full of uncertainty.

"Come on Ted, you need to relax! At this point I expect to be shot at every day by the people I work with. I'm starting to think it's me Ted. I'm more pissed about the suit. I see you don't like to wear them but I do. And when one of my suits get messed up I usually start shooting." Chuck said patting Ted on the back.

"Well anyway I would like to apologize for this mornings events." Ted said leading Chuck to one of the elevators.

"I hope you don't mind but I asked Jordan out to dinner some time in the future. I know she's your lady, but I must say it's not every day I get the chance to dine with an agent of her caliber. Call it professional curiosity." Chuck said stepping out of the elevator when it opened up on the subbasement level.

"No, not at all. I told you last night that I could keep you swimming in women didn't I?" Ted said leading them into a huge white room with a bare desk.

"Yeah but that's your woman. I would never over step you by taking your woman Ted, that's just not cool. I know I would be very angry if someone tried to bang Melissa." Chuck said making sure Melissa was off the market. The days of her playing call girl were over.

"Understood. Well Charles, what do you think about your new office?" Ted asked.

"It's very cool Ted. I can work with this." Chuck said setting his bag down on the table and taking a seat.

"Well I'll send Jordan down with all of your id's and things." Ted said.

"Thanks Ted. I'll work up a list of things I'll need." Chuck said looking at the glass panel computer that slid out of the desk.

Ted left and Chuck pulled out his laptop. He located the access panel and found the USB connection. He ran his program patch through the fulcrum Intersect to check compatibility. This was the first test to see if his idea would work on a large scale. The code he wrote on the flight to Phoenix was going to run through the Intersect program and plug into all of the functions of the mainframe. Basically controlling everything going into and coming out of the Intersect program. While that was going he pulled out his fake iPod and checked for bugs. When he was done Jordan came in. "Hey Chuck, are you going to shoot and or threaten to shoot someone every day?" She asked with a laugh.

"Maybe?" He said with a shrug punching a few keys on his laptop.

"Really?" She asked unsure.

"No. But they don't know that. They think I'm crazy. And if they think I'm crazy they won't try to mess with me. The more they fear me the better off I am. To everyone but you, Sam, Melissa, and Kate. I'm going to be very random with them. Make them think I'm unstable. Because you know what happens with unstable people?" He asked, when she shook her head he smiled a sadistic smile. "They get left alone, and the less people that pay attention to me the more we can get done. Tell me Jordan, would you like to speak the top twenty most used languages in the world? Or how about drive a car like an F1 driver? Or hit a target the size of a playing card form a hundred feet away with your handgun?" Chuck asked bringing up a black window with coding running across it.

"You can do that?" She asked looking at the screen.

Chuck pulled out a throwing knife from his bag and flicked it into corner of the wall on the other side of the room. Jordan looked at him like he was crazy, but he just smile. "Go and look." He said waving her over to the corner before he turned back to the computer screen. She walked over to the knife and saw a black dot under the tip of the blade. She pull it out of the wall and saw a curled up dead spider on the tip. She looked at him but his head was buried in the screen. She tossed the knife around her hand for a minute still looking at him. "Throw it. I know you want to. Go ahead and do it Jordan. You have to prove it to yourself." Chuck said without looking up. She looked from the knife to his head and back again. "Go on, I know I would want to know." He said. With a flick of her wrist she flung the knife at his head. With a brief glance he plucked the knife out of the air and put it back in his bag.

"The Intersect?" She asked just above a whisper.

"Yup." He said punching a few keys and making a face.

"What else?" She asked taking a seat on the chair across from him.

"You saw what I can do with a gun. When you get the report back from the infirmary you'll find I hit no major organs, although I must admit I did get the first guy in the collar bone. Sometimes I react faster then my thoughts can compute. But the second and third shots landed perfectly. I could have beat them all senseless but I figured shooting them would make a bigger entrance?" He shrugged. He looked over at her and smiled. "Your file said you speak French?" He asked in perfect French, he even spoke with a Parisian accent.

"What else?" She asked still shell shocked.

"Just Spanish, and Japanese, but after today? I'm thinking a few more martial arts, maybe some lock picking, and definitely dancing. I owe Melissa a few for helping me through yesterday. It's not everyday you shot someone for the first time after all." Chuck said with a laugh. "After that, I've always wanted to fly a plane, and maybe the next time I get into a helicopter I'll be able to do more then just land it." Chuck said with a shrug.

"But, um, you can just, what? Just download the skills right into your head?" She asked as her eyes went a little crossed at the thought.

"In a nut shell, yes, and I can do it to anyone. And," Chuck hit a few more keys. And the Intersect room lights dimmed before coming back up. "I'm the only one that can do it. And only with this computer. That's going to be at the top of the list of things I need. I need a bomb proof case for this laptop." Chuck said pointing to the black laptop.

"Okay." She said shaking her head. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up. "What else do you need?"

"Well have you ever seen the move Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?" He asked pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.

"No." She said standing behind him as he wrote.

"Well at the end of the move Jones is standing in a room full of chalices looking for the Holly Grail. There are dozens of cups, all jewel incrusted and made of gold. But the true Grail is a old cup made from a gored. I want to make the same thing. I want tables full of computers and walls full of monitors. The very best RI has to offer. So when people come in here looking for the Intersect computer they look at all the high end computers and leave this little thing alone." Chuck said handing her the list. "Oh and I want the most comfortable chair you can find. Something I can sit in for hours. And before I forget, Melissa wants an Aston Martin DB9." Chuck said as an after thought.

"You'll get all of the computers, no problems. But the car is going to be hard to come by." She said. Looking over the list.

"Well she wants that car and she's going to get it. I already told her she would get it." Chuck said smile.

"Fine I'll look for it. But no promises." She said walking out to the door. "Oh before I forget." She said handing him a file with his security badge, and a bunch of information about the grounds and the buildings.

"Thanks Jordan, what time would be good to get a meeting with Roark?" he asked clipping his badge onto his vest pocket.

"About one. He's fully loaded till then." She said pulling out a Blackberry.

"Well put me down for a one o'clock meeting. I need to set some things up with him." Chuck said walking her out of his lab and locking the door behind her. He took a seat at his computer and cracked his neck. "Now lets see if I got this right?" He said hitting the enter key. For the next ten minutes he watched the screen as images flashed by. When it stopped Chuck felt a blinding headache coming on. "Still too fast. But I do know 10 more languages, and dancing." He said shrugging and pulling a bottle of different medications out of his bag. He popped two Advil and sat back in his seat. "Man I can't wait for that chair to get here. This is just not going to cut it." He said rubbing his head.


	14. Chapter 14

Melissa was just getting out of the bath when Sam knocked on the door. She let her in and took the pile of clothing from her. "Thanks Sam I had nothing to wear. I will return these once I get my things from my house." Melissa said changing into the black slacks and gray top Sam gave her. She came out of the bedroom dressed, with her hair pulled back and her high heels on. She sat next to Sam and saw she was nervous. "Hey what's up with you? You look scared." She asked touching her shoulder.

"I'm going to walk into a CIA substation as a Treasonous Scumbag, Melissa how do you think I should feel? If I found someone like me I would shoot them on sight. I deserve a bullet to the head! Not help. I am no longer fit to serve!" Sam said standing up shaking.

"Hey! You need to relax. I trust these people, and more importantly Chuck trusts these people. You need to go to them and tell then exactly what you just said to me. The fact that you feel so strongly means your not a treasonous scumbag. Now sit down and relax. We're going to get you out of this, and when we do you are going to owe Chuck and his team a lot. You are going to owe them your life and the life of your sister. I want your word you will repay that debt by joining the team. You will repay that debt by being the Agent Samantha Glass of old. Your going to do what ever it takes to be the very best you can be for the team, and your sister is going to put that genius brain of hers to good use by being the team's annalist. She's going to come work with us. She will no longer be some drone paper pusher at Langley. She's coming out to stay with us. There are three more apartments on this floor. I'm keeping this one. One of the other apartments has to have two bedrooms. I think she would like to spend time with her big sister don't you?" Melissa asked sitting Sam down on the couch next to her. "Come on think about it, we're going to have some down time for Chuck's wedding I think you two can use that time to catch up. It's been two years and how many crazy missions Sam? You need a break. Get to know Bobby again." She said hugging the older woman.

"Thanks Melissa. I needed that. But I still feel like a traitor." Sam said.

"I know the feeling. I woke up one day a Fulcrum double agent, I went to bed in the arms of a very kind man, and woke up a good guy. It was very powerful. He held me for a good ten minutes while I sobbed. But he never let up, not once. Tonight I think you need to come spend the night here. And Chuck will tell you you're not a traitor, and he'll hold you and let you cry and when you fall asleep you'll know what redemption feels like. And In the morning you will feel a thousand times better. I'll talk to Chuck for you." Melissa said hugging her tighter.

"I don't think he can do anything for me." Sam said sadly.

"Come on, it's almost noon. Lets go get Kate and head down to the lobby." She said getting her things together. She would talk to Chuck later when he got back from work. She knew what Sam was feeling. What was eating her up. One night with Chuck and she would be fine. He always knows what to say to make it all better. She was going to have to have a very uncomfortable conversation with Sarah today. She double checked her purse and saw the napkin was still in there. She checked it more then she checked her gun, but it was for Chuck and let's face it, it was the least she could do for him. She smiled before she closed her purse.

Chuck stood outside of Ted Roark's office waiting for him to get off the phone. He guessed running RI and Fulcrum took a lot of his time. He smiled at that thought. He knew one thing for sure, when he was in charge of this company he was going to hire a group of people to run it for him. He was going to be way too busy doing missions. Ted opened the door and called him in.

"Hey Ted, I just wanted to give you a projection of time scale." Chuck said sitting down in on of the arm chairs on the side of the office to take away the power of Ted's big desk. He refused to sit in the lower chairs in front of that desk.

Ted took a seat in the chair next to him. "So what are we looking at Charles? Six months, a year?" Ted asked.

"Two weeks." Chuck said buffing his nails on his shirt.

"Did you say two weeks?" Ted asked in shock.

"Yes, but only if I get peace and quiet. If I get distractions and people coming in and out all the time it's going to take longer. And one other thing, if the door to the lab is closed then it means I'm running a test of the Intersect. If you don't want to fry another brain then you've got to keep people out. I can not guarantee the safety of anyone walking into that room. I have enough exposure to it to not fry my brain. I've downloaded a beta test version of it a long time ago and I think they cancel each other out." Chuck said with a shrug.

"Wow so you're going to be running tests already?" Ted asked.

"Why not? You were. I should have a beta test version in about a week and a half. I also need you to issue an apology on my behalf for the power fluctuations. When I run the program reboot tomorrow, the power it takes might drain the grid for a few seconds, this could fuck up some systems. If something like that happens I don't want anyone freaking out. It's not an earthquake, it's just the mainframe powering up and running the recalibrations. Unless it is an earthquake of course, then it's every man for himself and since I'm in the sub basement I'm all good." Chuck said with a crazy laugh.

"So you're that close? How?" Ted asked.

"Well it really dose come down to download speed. Too fast you fry the brain, too slow and it doesn't stick. It's a tricky balance. And your coding was fucked up, I fixed it I think. If not I'll come up with a way to fix it. I wont know for sure until I test it out some more. I'm also going to need to run a test on a live subject at some point. You said before you have a list of crappy agents to use as human lab rats? I'm going to need that list to look at aptitude levels and brain function. I'm basically going to pick the least retarded one of the bunch. But you can't just come out and say things like that in front of the test subjects, so I'll stick to the big words around them, it's not like they understand what I'm saying right?" Chuck said with a laugh on the outside but on the inside his stomach was rolling. He always felt dirty when he was around Roark. But he had a part to play and after he wondered around the sub basement he knew what to do.

The main data trunk line came into the sever room in the basement. But the sub basement one floor below had an access panel to the server room. Probably for maintenance, but for a guy like him it was just too good to pass up. It was like a big juicy stake just sitting there. That's why tomorrow Chuck was going to kill the power grid, climb through that hatch and download everything off the RI server. He just needed a distraction. Which he was going to implant at the end of the day. For the last two hours he had been coding a virus to burn through the firewall as soon as the power cut out. He downloaded computer hacking into his brain, he now knew more about hacking then he ever wanted to. The virus he created was so bad he imbedded a kill switch on a timer. Ten minutes after it started ravishing the network it would die. He just needed to upload it into a networked computer. All he had to do was get in, download a massive amount of information, and get out. Easy.

"Thanks for the heads up Charles. I will let everyone know we are going to be running experiments on processors in the lab. Aside form all that how is everything?" Ted asked sitting back.

"Good. The computer equipment I asked for arrived just as I was coming up here. I plan on having most of it set up tonight. The rest will have to wait till tomorrow. I have someone to do tonight." Chuck said suggestively.

"I know how it is. I've got my own entertainment for the night. I think I might even bring a second little hot piece with me tonight if you know what I mean?" Ted said with a lecherous grin.

Chuck thought about Jordan, and the things he was suggesting and felt the bile rise in his throat. This sick bustard was going to make Jordan, and another woman do, he couldn't think about it. His hand flexed making his trigger finger contract. A part of him wanted to reach behind his back, pull his gun, and put a bullet in his head. He stood up looking down at his watch. "Well I've got to go. I have a whole crap load of computers to set up if I want to stay on schedule." Chuck said walking towards the door.

"Don't work too hard Charles." Ted said as he closed the door. Chuck made it to the elevator before his smile fell. He needed to get this done faster. He needed to get the Intersect 2.0 upgrade into his head. He needed to do it fast. He needed to back up all of his work and he needed to find the upload speed that killed. He decided right there and then that he was going to end as many of these scum bags as he could. Starting with Roark.

Melissa, Sam and Kate stood outside by Sam's 2007 BMW M3. It was almost noon and they were waiting for Jordan. They were just about to call her when they heard the roar of a V12 engine coming. A silver Aston Martin DB9 rolled to a stop in front of the group. Jordan stepped out. "I believe this belongs to you Melissa?" Jordan said tossing her the keys. Melissa's face light up as she looked between the car and the key.

"Shotgun!" Kate called out walking to the Aston and getting in.

Jordan got in the M3 and Sam looked to Melissa.

"We are headed to a place in Burbank called Orange-Orange. Follow me, if you can keep up!" Melissa said closing the door and staring up her new car. The V12 rumbled to life she revved the engine and felt the power under her butt. She selected first gear and hit the gas burning out down the driveway and out onto the street. She turned left and shifted up. She headed onto the expressway ramp. She punched it up to third and over took three car as she merged with the traffic on the expressway headed to Burbank.

They pulled into the parking lot ten minutes later doing eighty. Melissa aimed for the yogurt shop and pulled the e-break skidding into a parking spot in front of the place and Sam slid in to the spot next to her. "I had you on the exit ramp! Forget what exit we were supposed to get off on?" Sam asked spinning her keys like a six shooter.

"Please I took you three blocks back. And I get style points for the hand break parking job too." Melissa said tossing her keys in her purse. The four of them walked up to the door and stopped. "It's cool guys let me do all of the talking." Melissa said pushing open the door.

Sarah was standing behind the counter Casey was sitting at a table in the corner with Alex, he was talking to her in hushed tones. Carina was standing by the door playing with her iPhone. There were six other agents sitting around the shop eating yogurt. As soon as she saw Sam Carina spun her around and pulled her into a big hug. "It's so good to see you alive! I've missed your tight, ridged, over thought out plans." Carina said pulling back from her and looking her over. "Well you look like shit. What have they been feeding you? You're too thin and your hair looks dead." Carina said touching Sam's head.

"Well hello to you to bitch. Two years and all you can say is I look like shit? News flash skinny, so do you." Sam said pulling her back into her arms smiling.

"I Hate to break up the reunion, but we have three interrogation rooms waiting downstairs." Casey said walking up to Jordan. "I know this is going to sound like an insult, but I need your gun Major." Casey said holding out his hand.

"I understand Major." She said handing him her Sig229.

"The same for you." Sarah said standing next to Kate.

"Here you go, fat lot of good it's done me. I've had it for three years and I never really got to use it." She said pulling a USP compact form her purse.

"Sam?" Carina asked holding out her hand. Sam pulled a Glock19 from her back and handed it to Carina.

"Lets go we have a lot to talk about. Melissa you can either come with us or you can lead the team on the shopping trip?" Casey asked with a smirk.

"As tempting as that sounds I'd like to sit in on the interrogations. If one of the agents can stop by my house and grab my two go bags out of my apartment I'd be grateful." She said holding up her house key.

"I'm in charge of the shopping trip Ma'am I can get it for you if you tell me the address?" Alex said standing. "Also if you three can hand over your cell phones so we can take them with that would be great." She said

"Also make a list of things you want her to get you and meet us downstairs. I've put you in the system for Castle just come down when your done." Sarah said walking with Kate to the freezer.

Down in interrogation room three Sarah looked across the table at Kate. "So what's your story?" Sarah asked.

"Well I graduated from the Farm three years ago, and for the for the first year I was used as a CIA tart. I got shagged so many times I lost count. Then one day I met a woman in a bar. She walked right up to me and told me she knew who I was and what I was going through. She said as long as I worked for the CIA I would only be used for my body. A sex toy to keep the VIP assets happy. She told me that if I joined Fulcrum I would get real missions. I was intrigued. So I called the number off the card she left me and I met with a Fulcrum handler. He confirmed her story. The next day I get called into my bosses office and shown pictures of me and the handler talking. They arrested me and were taking me to a underground bunker. In route to the bunker the transport stopped on the side of the road and I was let out. Five seconds after the van pulled away a black car pulled up and the handler was inside. He told me if I didn't get in the car I was going to end up dead. Apparently I escaped custody and now there was a kill order out on me. So I got in the car. From that day on I've been a Fulcrum tart, and I can't quit. If I do I end up in a prison for being a traitor, or they reinstate my kill order and I'm shot by some rooky agent on their Red Test." Kate said losing her battle with the tears pooled in her eyes.

"What was your handlers name?" Sarah asked stone faced.

"He said his name was Stevens, but I'm guessing that's a fake name." Kate said.

"Is there anything you can tell me about the missions you went on?" Sarah asked.

"What missions? I'm telling you, for the last two years I've been a call girl. They give me a name and a place, and I show up and act excited as some dirt bag touches me. I have yet to use my gun except for my Red Test, and even that required me to get naked. It's like they were giving me a glimpse into my future." Kate said crying harder now. Sarah looked at her sadly as she stood up and hugged the girl.

"Hey it's okay. You don't have to do that stuff anymore." She said rubbing the girls back as she sobbed.

In interrogation room one Carina was sitting next to Sam. "So what happened?" She asked her friend.

"It all started about two years ago. I was just coming out of a debriefing after a red eye flight from Bangkok when five guys black bagged me, drugged me, and tossed me into a van. When I came to I was tide to a chair and there was a TV in front of me. On the screen was a live feed of an annalist pit at Langley. I could clearly see Bobby sitting at her desk typing away. Then a man walked into the room, wearing all black. He walked up to the TV and pointed at Bobby. He said something like: She's real pretty. I wonder what she tastes like, or how she sounds when screams for me to stop. But you wont have to wonder because you're going to get a front row seat to the show. I'm going to let you watch as I go to work on her, then every guy in this place is going to take a turn with her. By the time we're done she's going to beg us to kill her." Sam said looking sick.

"What happened then?" Carina asked taking Sam's hands as the tears formed in her eyes she loved Bobby too, it was hard for her to hear that.

"He told me that if I worked for them I would never have to worry about my sister, but if I screwed them Bobby would pay the price. I've been on eight missions so far. The first two were easy retrieval missions. I was given a team and I made sure each of them ended up dead over the course of the mission. I personally killed three of them. After my two failures, the missions kept getting more and more dangerous. Suicide missions really. I never really completed them. I always left clues, or missed my mark. The last mission I was on I was supposed to drive up the price of heroin coming from Afghanistan. Instead I blew up the processing labs and made it look like the US army did it. I even got caught in the blast of the last one." Sam said rolling up her sleeve and showing Carina her nasty burse.

"That looks bad Sam. Did you get it looked at by a doctor?" Carina asked touching the burse.

"It's fine, what can you do for Bobby?" Sam asked.

"Well I'm not sure what Chuck's end game is but. I'm going back to D.C. and I'm going to watch her for you. As soon as the word comes through that Chuck made his move I'll pull her out, and keep her safe. I swear to you I will keep Bobby safe. You know I love her like you do. I've been checking on her since you've been gone. I keep tabs on her, make sure she's doing okay at work. I found her a nice apartment close to work. She's a good kid. I'll make sure she stays that way. I think she found a boyfriend, she's been hanging around with another annalist. His name is Daniel Patel, he's a good kid too, he's like Bobby, shy. I ran a background check and broke into his apartment. He's clean." Carina said hugging Sam.

"Thanks Carina. I owe you big time. I've been so worried about her these last two years. I miss her so much. Now tell me about Chuck. I can't get a handle on the guy. One minute he's the nicest guy I've ever met, the next he's shooting people and threatening me. Is he what his file says he is? Or is that all a lie?" Sam asked.

"As far as I can tell he's everything he says he is. I'll tell you this. My sister Sarah would not settle for just some guy. So he has to be special." Carina said.

In interrogation room two Casey sat across form Jordan just looking at her. "Major Rodgers can you tell me why you are working for a rogue intelligence group?" Casey asked.

"Well Major Casey I work for Fulcrum because they have an assassin posing as my son room mate in his college dorm room. The second I stop playing nice they kill him, slowly." She said with an edge to her voice.

"How, and when were you recruited?" He asked.

"I was recruited about eight months ago. They approached me. I was walking to my car after work one night and I was drugged, black bagged, and tossed into a van. When I woke up I was laying on Ted Roark's bed naked. He was sitting on a chair. When I got my bearings I demanded to know what was going on. He calmly told me that he had a guy shadowing my son. He showed me the assassins file. When I saw Scott's room mate I knew this was for real. I asked him what he wanted, and it seamed the answer was me. He's obsessed with me. From that night on I've slept in his bed. He checks in with the assassin every day, and if he doesn't make that call Scott takes a bullet. If I kill him his guards make the call and Scott dies. If I was to kill all of them. The assassin checks the CCTV camera feeds constantly. If he see something out of place he kills Scott. Your starting to see a pattern here. Say what you want about Roark, but the man is very smart. He trapped me in a cage with no doors. I can move about the city freely. I act as his assistant. I even carry a gun, but if I'm not in his bed at the end of the night, well you know what happens. Now that you know what's going on what can you do about my son?" She asked.

"Well what happens if the assassin went missing?" Casey asked.

"No he thought of that. He just get's replaced, there is one standing by waiting for the order to step in and complete the job." Jordan said.

"Well in that case we need to wait until the very last minute then kill the assassin and pull Scott out. I'll sit on him till it's all done." Casey said.

"And what is the plan?" She asked.

"Lets get everyone together and talk about it." He said opining the door letting Jordan out. They walked down the hall and found everyone else in the conference room. "So I guess all of their stories checked out?" He asked.

"Yes, and they all need to be brought up to speed, I've been talking to Sam, and Kate and they want on the team. Does Major Rodgers as well?" Carina asked.

"Lets hear the pitch first." Jordan said with a smile.

"Sarah can I talk to you for a few minutes?" Melissa asked Sarah.

"I can handle the briefing." Casey said.

"Thanks." Sarah said leading Melissa into interrogation room one. "I think formal introductions are needed. I'm Sarah Walker, I'm Chuck's wife. And your Melissa Barns the bitch that's trying to steal my man" Sarah growled. When she saw how freaked out Melissa was getting she couldn't hold it in. she feel into a seat laughing.

"That was not funny! That was very mean. I was trying to be your friend." Melissa said with a pout.

"Come on, the room was way too tense. I had to break it up a bit. Now what did you want to talk to me about?" Sarah said taking Melissa's hand with a smile.

"The first thing I wanted to say is that I respect you very much." Melissa said in a very serous voice.

"I know you do." Sarah said sobering up.

"The next thing I want you to know is that I only got to heavy touching with Chuck, and I preformed maybe thirty seconds of oral on him when he was asleep. He was very gentlemanly about the whole thing, but he turned me down and made sure I was okay about it." She said.

"I know Casey told me." Sarah said.

"The next thing I wanted to talk to you about is my friendship with Chuck. He's an amazing guy. Probably the best guy I've ever met. I can very easily see myself loving him, but I respect you and Chuck too much to ever try something that might hurt your marriage. That being said for the past two night that we slept on the same bed together we ended up spooning and he usually wakes up cupping my left breast. I can say that it's the best feeling I've ever had, and he has been freaked out every time it happens. I want you to know that it never happens intentionally, but it dose happen. Again he's always very gentlemanly about the whole thing. I do want to say that I enjoy sleeping with him very much. Not in a sexual way but because of the comfort he offers. I've never slept as good as I have these past two days." Melissa said blushing.

"My Chuck is a very special man. Trust me I know. I've know for a very long time. For the longest time we couldn't be together, but I used to sleep over to maintain our cover. What I never told him is I kept increasing the number of those sleep over's because of how good I felt afterwards. I know what your talking about. I'm the one that figured it out. It's not a power, it's just Chuck. He has the ability to love unconditionally. He loves without it ever having to be returned. And when you sleep with him, he wraps you up in that love. He holds you and makes everything alright. I know what your saying, as strange as that sounds. I understand what's going on, and I know it's just sleep. I know because even though you're in love with him I trust him to never let it go past sleep." Sarah said with a knowing smile.

"You know what? I'm not even going to try and deny it. I am totally in love with him. I have been since he trusted me with his secrets. I mean I was totally hot for Charles Carmichael, I still am. But when he opened up and trusted me, I fell hard." Melissa said sadly.

"It's a curse I suppose. Marrying a guy like Chuck. I guess we are matched in that way. Guys lust after me, and women fall in love with him. It's a cross we must carry." Sarah said with a sigh.

"I would never try anything with him. Never! I love him too much to try something like that. I'm just doomed to love him form afar for the rest of my life." Melissa said sadly.

"No, not doomed. Chuck will always have time for his friends and trust me when I say this, I'm not going to try and separate you two like some jealous wife. If you need to talk to him you come over and talk to him. You need a hug? Hug him. I will draw the line at sleeping with him unless it's an extreme situation. And we will find you a Chuck of your own some day. Until then I'm going to have to share my Chuck." Sarah said.

"I didn't know how this conversation was going to go, I had no idea how to ask you to let me keep seeing your husband. Talk about an awkward conversation." Melissa said in relief.

"Like I said, I understand. And we are all going to be on the same team. You know with you, Jordan, Sam, Kate, and Carina we out number the boys six to two and Casey's vetting this new girl Alex. I see a lot of comforting females in Chuck's future. Lets face it, Casey is not really a comforting kind of guy." Sarah said with a laugh.

"Poor Chuck. He's going to be swimming in a sea of women." Melissa said laughing too.

"All of them beautiful, and deadly. My poor Chuck is going to be booked solid. Chuck my feeling are hurt. Chuck I don't feel pretty. Chuck I don't feel loved." Sarah said jokingly.

"Oh before I forget." Melissa said pulling the napkin out of her purse. "I saved this form the ambush." She said opining the napkin to show Sarah a 9mm shell casing. "It's the brass from his first 'Kill' I thought you could put it on a key chain or a necklace. I mean I wouldn't want the brass from my Red Test. But I think Chuck would like to remember it." Melissa said handing it over to Sarah.

"Wow, Melissa this is really thoughtful. Chuck will love it, but I think you should give it to him. You two shared that moment together and I think it will mean more coming from you." Sarah said handing it back to her.

"I just thought that you might want to give it to him so you can be a part of it. You made him Sarah. Without you there would be no Charles Carmichael. No first kill, no deep cover mission, no master of seduction. I just wanted you to be a part of it. It's an important day in an agent's life." Melissa said looking at the shinny brass in her hand.

"That's very touching for you to say but it's all Chuck. I'm so proud of him. He's becoming a respectable agent, and he doesn't need me any more." Sarah said sadly.

"Hey, yes he does. You need to take stock in the fact that every time he does something, he's just using the skills you and Casey taught him. When he's smooth talking a woman he's mimicking you, when he threatens to kill someone he's aping Casey. He told me so. You should see him. I think he models a lot of his attitude off of Casey. But it's his confidence that's awesome, and that's all you. He's a combination of the two of you and I think you should be so proud. You're his spy parents. He does need you, just not as a protector any more. He needs you as a partner. The three of you are going to be an amazing team. I can only imagine the three of you together. If you guys did all of those things and he was just Chuck, just think about the team of the great Sarah Walker, Major Casey, and Charles Carmichael working together? And with the rest of us to back you guys up? Unstoppable! Think about it this way, you wont have to be watching Chuck on missions anymore. You know agent Carmichael has got your back. He's right now sitting in the enemy camp, and not only is he not in trouble, he's got them so scared that they crap them selves if he looks at them. He has the poor doorman in our building so scared he called me Ms. Barns and treated me like a was royalty. I don't know what he said to him but he's scared of his own shadow now. He's got Fulcrum Command on his knees begging him to work for them. I've seen it with my own two eyes." Melissa said proudly.

"Now with all of that being said, I still want you to give him this gift. We have all given him something. I gave him a car. He doesn't know it yet but the Mustang is his. When he comes home after the mission it will be waiting for him. Casey gave him his gun. The gun Chuck's using is Casey's gun, and after the mission he's going to let him keep it. If there was anyone that was proud of Chuck more then me, and you it would be Casey. He took him through the Rite you know? But this," Sarah said holding up the spent shell casing "This will be your gift to him. He's your partner too you know, he's going to need you over the next two weeks just like you're going to need him. I want you to look after each other, because no matter how confident he is, or how cool he is, he's still on his first mission. In a lot of ways this is a first mission for both of you. I want to you to watch each others backs out there. Take this to a jeweler and get it set in a chain or something. If he has a bad day, I want you to give it to him along with these." She said pulling a set of car keys on a Mustang key ring out of her pocket.

"I will. I'll watch his back." Melissa said putting the keys and the brass shell casing in her purse.

"Good now lets go see what they're doing out there. I don't think Casey can handle that many women in one place at one time. Lets face it, he's no Chuck." Sarah said

Chuck was in his element. He was standing in the middle of a huge pile of computers. He set up three long tables and eight power bars. He was in the process of separating out the computers so the room looked equally cluttered. His years of watching Jeff and Lester pretend to work taught him the key to looking busy was a cluttered work space. So far he had six of the ten computers set up and running his random coding program. In terms of programming he made a program that created gibberish, and ran it across the screens. It did nothing but it looked very important. At a glance it looked like they were doing something important. He was just about to plug in the next PC when there was a knock at the door. Chuck pulled his gun and set his face into scowl. He wretched the door open with his gun in hand.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO DISTURB ME WHEN I'm….." Chuck yelled until he saw Jordan and Melissa standing at the door. He put away his gun. "Oh it's you guys. Sorry about that ladies. I have a reputation to uphold. I told Roark that I could get the Intersect up and running in two weeks if I'm not bothered." He said letting then in and locking the door behind them. He took a seat in his new huge comfy office chair, "Take a seat, what can I help you ladies with?" Chuck asked.

"Well we just came from a meeting of the whole team and we wanted to update you on what's going on, and also talk to you about the end game of your plan, it's a bit vague. I mean I understand why it is, you didn't know what you were going to find when you got here but now we need to figure it out so we can plan the other side missions that need to be completed." Jordan said.

"I have the bones of an end game but I could use your advice. You have twenty years in the field and your wisdom would be a lot of help." Chuck said resting his chin in his hand.

"Did you just call me old?" Jordan asked with a smirk.

"I would never call such a beautiful woman old. You don't look a day over 26, in fact I feel like a cradle robber every time I look at you with lust in my heart. Your breath taking smile and stunning eyes stop me dead in my tracks. Men would give anything for the honor of worshiping your body." Chuck said with his wolfish smile and a sexy voice.

Jordan blushed bright red and her pulse quickened. When he said worship your body she felt a fire rush up her body starting at her middle and running up to her face. Her bra was uncomfortable against her breasts, and she was panting. Melissa took one look at her and laughed. "It's funny when it happens to someone else!" She gasped out between laughs.

Chuck just smirked. "I Don't know if I'm that good, or if you NSA girls are that easy. Either way, I'll take the win." Chuck said.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Jordan asked.

"That was CIA seduction techniques. What you NSA guys don't get is that seduction is not about sex. It's all about the fantasy. The idea of sex. If you have to have actual sex it means you failed. I know you guys don't really do a lot of infiltration and information gathering, and when you are sent to seduce someone they mean sex. Like Melissa was forced to do. Ask Sam, she'll tell you that unless you are groomed to be a CIA call girl like Kate, then you are taught that sex is the last part of seduction. I was taught by the very best in not having sex with the mark. So when I turn on the charm I tend to go for the fantasy." Chuck said with a shrug.

"Don't feel bad, he had me gushing in me pants with just a few words and some light touching." Melissa said patting Jordan on the back.

"Well now I'm uncomfortable." Jordan said taking off her jacket and fiddling around in her shirt, she sighed and pulled her black lace bra out of her shirt. "That's much better." She said sighing.

"How the hell did you do that?" Chuck asked staring at the bra in her hand.

"Woman secret, I can't tell you. You don't have clearance." Jordan said and Melissa was nodding next to her. "But back to my first question. What's your end game?" Jordan asked tucking her bra in her purse.

"Well my strategy has always been to use the Intersect to upload as much stuff as I can into my brain. I was then going to sabotage it and escape after spending a week meeting and greeting Fulcrum higher ups. I was then going to write all of the names and information I found out and distribute it to the strike teams to use as a starting guide for the raids. But now I've changed my mind. I'm going to hack into the servers and down load everything on them into a few hard drive and after I download all of that information into my head I'm going to pass it off to the team to look over. Then for the rest of the week I'm going to download as much stuff as I can into my head. Next week I'm going to use it to download skills that you guys want. Come down and sit in the chair for a few minutes a day and you can have any skills you want. I'm going to come up with a set of core skills that I think would be helpful to know in the field. For Melissa here it's going to be a very long week. For you Jordan, not so much. At the end of that second week if the team is done combing through the hard drives then I'll make a list of the worst Fulcrum agents, call them all into one room and deep fry their brains like chicken. If they're not done yet we can use that time to start the pre-mission planning for an assault on this building, Roark tower, and any other base we find. That's mostly going to be done by Melissa, Kate, and Sam. Our job Jordan is finding the worst of the worst Fulcrum has to offer and fry their brains in fake tests of the intersect. Before the deep fry main event goes down we need to get people in place to get your son, and Sam's sister out. After the deep fry the strike teams can move in on the bases and strong holds. Jordan, how many people working here at RI are Fulcrum?" Chuck asked.

"I'm not sure on the exact number but a lot of the guard staff are, and about thirty agents use this place as a cover. All together I'd say somewhere around fifty? Maybe more, maybe less."

"Well anyone that's not in the deep fryer we need to hunt down and capture, it will be just the two of us. If we do it fast and quietly I think we can get it done. I think our best bet is going to be to use the auditorium for the deep fry room and have Roark send everyone not Fulcrum home. We can then go room by room putting them down. We don't have to worry about casualties then." Chuck said in deep thought.

"That's actually a good idea." Jordan said. "Is there anything you need me to do?" Jordan asked.

"Yes, there is. If at any time tomorrow Roark wants to see me or he wants to check on me I need you to go in his place. That way you can come down here and wait for me to get back. I figure it's going to be a lot of data, and I'm going to try to limit the useless data, but there's going to be a lot. I figure it's going to take me about an hour to down load it all, and that's with the crawler program I'm going to code tonight. Oh and if you can take this flasdrive and stick it into any networked computer that would be great." Chuck said handing Jordan a flash drive.

"What's on it?" She asked.

"A virus I created. It's going to keep the IT guys busy for a while, and do enough damage to the servers that my theft will go unnoticed." Chuck said running his hand through his hair.

"Wow you've been a very busy boy haven't you?" She asked.

"Well I still have a lot to do. I have to code the crawler program." Chuck said scratching his chin.

"What time are you getting off." Melissa asked with concern.

"I'm not sure? When the crawler is done I guess. I will have about two hours tomorrow to finish it but I want to have it ready so I can load it onto portable mass storage drives tomorrow morning." Chuck said.

"Well it's already six o'clock. Have you eaten yet?" Melissa asked.

"No. I've been too busy to eat." Chuck said.

"Well I can bring you something from the cafeteria. But you shouldn't over work yourself Chuck." Jordan said and that triggered something in his head.

"Oh that reminds me, Jordan you might want to think about faking food poisoning tonight. When I was in Roark's office he said he was going to bring another girl to the bedroom tonight. He was bragging about it." Chuck said looking green.

"Don't worry about him, he's so old and sad he can't handle me most nights, let alone a second girl. That was all talk Chuck. Nothing more. But thanks' for looking out for me, it's been a while since someone did that. I'll go bring you something to eat from the cafeteria. Is there anything you want, or should I just surprise you?" Jordan asked.

"Surprise me?" Chuck said pulling up a blank black screen and before he started typing.

"Hey Chuck, can I talk to you about something?" Melissa asked.

"Can it wait till tonight? I'm kind of busy right now and the less time it takes me to do this the more time we will have for dancing tonight. I've learned quiet a few today." Chuck said with a smile.

"I guess it can wait but we need to talk tonight as soon as you get home." She said walking to the door.

"I promise we will talk as soon as I walk in the door." Chuck said as his finger danced across the keyboard.

"Okay I'll see you later." She said leaving.

"All right now I just have to code a crawler program." Chuck said as he flased.


	15. Chapter 15

Chuck put the last finishing touches on his crawler program. He saved, and shut off his laptop. He slid it into the foam lined metal and Kevlar case Jordan found for him, before tossing it into his bag. He checked his watch and saw it was 8:35 PM. He grabbed all of his things and headed for his car. When he got outside he saw someone keyed the side of his door. He looked around and saw a security camera pointing right at his car. He smiled. He would find the person that did this and he would pay them a visit, but not now, no, he would wait, he was a patient man, and he had important things to do. But next week the keyer was fair game. And he would make sure it got out, it would add to the legend of Charles Carmichael.

He pulled into the drive way ten minutes after he burned out in front of RI. He opened his door to find the doorman waiting to park the car. He smiled an evil smile as he handed the keys over. "Do you see this scratch on the side?" He asked and the doorman nodded. "It happened at RI, when I find the person that did it I'm going to kill them very slowly. If I find anymore scratches on it I'm going to know who put them there, and I'm not going to be pleased about it. I'd spread the word around." Chuck said menacingly.

"I understand Mr. Carmichael sir." He said taking the key and getting into the car very slowly. When he pulled away Chuck let the laugh bubble out. When he walked into the apartment he saw the lights were off and Melissa was sitting by the table with a candle light dinner waiting for him.

"Welcome home Chuck, have a good day at work?" She asked as she waved him over to the table. He sat across from her and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. He knew something was up, he could smell it, well that and the plate in front of him. He broke eye contact and looked over the spread. A big stake was sitting on his plate along with a huge baked potato, and green beans with shaved almonds.

"This looks really good, but who's the extra plate for?" Chuck asked.

"Sam, that's what I wanted to talk to you about actually. Remember three night ago when I cried on you for being a traitor? Well I would like you to do the same thing for all of the other ladies. They're in need of good conversation, some drinks and cuddling. They need love Chuck, and kindness, and understanding." Melissa said with a sad smile.

"I don't get it. You want me to seduce them?" Chuck asked scratching his chin, he found himself doing that a lot today. He now understood why people grew beards, it gave their hands something to do when they were thinking. Chuck liked doing it. Plus it made him look like an evil genus.

"Kind of, but not really. Remember when you held me and told me I had to be good at something? You sat me down on your lap and held me and talked to me like I mattered. Like I was the center of your world. It was amazing. I want you to do the same thing with them." Melissa said.

"I still don't get it. Why do they need me to do all of that?" He asked looking at his stake, he was getting very hungry sitting here looking at his plate.

"They need you to do this because they never had someone do it before, or in a really long time. They're all in need of comfort and reassurance. They need the attention and love of a very good man. They all have doubts about their future on the team, or in some cases, as agents all together. Sam feels like an unredeemable traitor. She thinks she should be shot where she stands. She's been in so many dangerous situations over the last two years she's always on edge, and yet she lost all of the fire she used to have. Kate's just waiting for someone to tell her to strip. She's been used so many times she doesn't know anything else. She's probably forgot more about being an agent then I ever knew but she forgot how to be an agent all together now. They turned her into a hooker that knows how to hold a gun. Jordan thinks she's too old to still be an agent. She feels responsible for getting in the situation she's in right now, and she feels like she's failed her son. She was never there for him growing up but she made a promise to herself to never put him in danger because of the work she did. She broke that promise, and now she thinks she's not fit to be an agent anymore. Like an old knife she feels like she lost her edge. Chuck you need to help them like you did me. I've never felt more confident then when you said all those things to me. You turned a traitor call girl in to an agent. For the first time I'm on a real mission. I have a job to do that doesn't require me to be on my back. You did that Chuck, and now I need you to do it for the others." She said with a smile.

"So you want me to what? Date them? Make them feel special again? Hold them and sleep with them?" Chuck asked rubbing his hands over his face.

"Yes." Melissa said.

"Okay, how are we going to do this?" Chuck asked taking a drink from his wine glass.

"That's it? No big argument? No protesting? No speeches about cheating on Sarah?" Melissa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope. I just want to know how this is going to work. I'm guessing you have a plan? Cause I'm drawing a blank. I mean if it was just seduce them I would have no problem with Jordan or Kate. Sam's too good, but the other two I could charm easily. But I'm guessing it's more then that?" Chuck asked looking at his stake longingly.

"No charming. No seducing. Just be Chuck, not agent Carmichael. Trust them and open up to them. Find that one thing that they love and do that with them. Like you did with me and dancing. I felt like crap and you held me close and just swayed with me. The perfect gentleman. That's what they need. They're used to frogs, I don't think any of them have ever meet a prince." Melissa said.

"Okay set it up. Can I have my steak now?" he asked with a wine to his voice and a pout on his face.

"Let me call Sam up and then we can eat together." She said pulling out her phone.

"Fine, but I hope it's still warm, you do know you can't microwave a steak right?" Chuck asked.

"She's coming, and I ordered the food on super hot plates. And it just came a minute before you got here. I had Jordan call me when you left the office." She said going to the door. A few seconds later Sam knocked. "Come in, we're having diner, I hope you feel like steak?" Melissa asked leading Sam over to the seat next to Chuck.

"Hello Chuck." She said shyly.

"Hello Sam, how are you doing this evening?" Chuck asked taking a bite. It was still hot. His eyes rolled back in his head as he savored the flavors. "Who made this? We have to keep them on the staff after the takeover." Chuck half said half moaned.

"Hungry Chuck?" Sam asked with a smile.

"You have no idea. I've been sitting here looking and smelling this steak for the last ten minutes." Chuck said giving Melissa a fake dirty look causing the two women to laugh.

"Hey I wanted to talk to you at work, but you were too busy remember?" Melissa said smirking.

"If I knew this was waiting for me I would have come home with you at six instead of eating that tofu salad thing that Jordan got me. Does she really eat that crap? She said it was one of her favorite things from the cafeteria. It tasted like butt." Chuck said between bites.

"You really like steak don't you?" Sam asked looking at Chuck.

"I like anything that tastes like this." Chuck said pointing to his plate with his knife and fork.

"And for the record, Jordan does eat that crap as you called it. I do too for that matter. So does Kate and Sam here. You think this happens by accident?" Melissa asked waving her hands at her and Sam's bodies. "Hell no it doesn't. I spend four days a week at the gym when I'm not in a bunker. In fact this is the last red meat I'm having for the rest of the week." Melissa said cutting her steak in to small bite size pieces.

"You do know there's a gym on the first floor right?" Sam asked.

"Your kidding? Well I know what I'm going to do tomorrow, I think you should set aside time to come with me Chuck. We don't want to send you home to Sarah fat after all." She said with a big smile.

"But the gym means I have to work, and get all sweaty!" Chuck said pouting.

"Suck it up you big baby. You're out of shape as it is. I bet I can out bench you." Melissa said flexing a well toned arm in his face.

"Hey until last week I never had to think about things like fitness. I'm just learning you know." Chuck said staring sadly at his flat arm as he flexed.

"Well, I wouldn't tell that to Jordan. She's up every morning at 5am running ten miles on a treadmill. She then runs through an hour long work out that has me questioning if she's human or not." Sam said. "You do not want any part of her morning workouts. Trust me on this. She tries to get me to join her when I'm not on missions."

"How hard can it be? She's what like 40? That's almost grandma age." Chuck said dismissively.

"You know what? I tried to warn you, but you didn't listen. If you really don't believe me head down there some time she's there from 5:30 to 7am every morning Monday through Saturday. I'll let her know you think she's old enough to be a grandma. That's going to go over really good with her. Tell me Chuck, do you know kickboxing?" Sam asked between bites.

"I do, I just downloaded it today." Chuck said feeling very proud.

"I got twenty buck that says that grandma can kick the shit out of you." Sam said smirking.

"I'll take that bet. I would love to spar and test out me new skills." Chuck said. He looked to Melissa. "You want in on this? I'm making plans to take Sam's hard errand money." Chuck said with a smirk to match Sam's.

"Sorry Chuck, I'm betting against you." Melissa said softly as she took a drink.

"WHAT!? Your going against me? Your own partner? The Intersect? You wound me woman! For that I'm sleeping on the couch tonight!" Chuck said with a huff.

"You would leave me in that big bed all by myself?" Melissa asked in a hurt voice but with a big smile on her face.

"Yes! I would take away your snuggle time!" Chuck said sticking his nose in the air setting them all off.

"Fine but I'm still betting on Jordan." Melissa said pouting.

"Don't make that face, you know I don't like it. Fine I'll give you back your cuddle time. Just cut back the puppy dog eyes." Chuck said hugging her.

"You two are so cute it's sickening." Sam said making a face.

"let's change the topic before we make her sick." Chuck said sharing a smile with Melissa. "So Sam what do you like to do for fun?" Chuck asked.

"Well I used to like going to the shooting range, and just let off a few hundred rounds, but I haven't had the time to do that in a while. I would love to do that again. It's been so long since I've shot at a target that was made of paper." Sam said wistfully.

"Really? What are you doing tonight?" Chuck asked.

"Nothing really, why?" Sam asked.

"I might be able to help you, hold on." Chuck said pulling out his Blackberry. "Hello Jordan? Yes, can you put Ted on the phone? Hey Ted, I ran into a coding problem and it's driving me nuts. I need to blow off some steam. Does Fulcrum have a shooting range? You do? And you can set that up for tonight? Make sure they're stocked up on 9mm because killing paper targets is the only thing that helps me get over a coding block like this. Thanks Ted I owe you one. Okay we can call it even. See you at the office tomorrow." Chuck hung up the phone and turned to the two women staring at him. "What? I figured he'd have a range somewhere. When we're done here I'll take you. Do you have anything beside that Golck19 in your back?" Chuck asked cutting his steak.

Sam sat there in shock for a few seconds until her brain kicked in. "Um I have an MP5 in my apartment, and a few other hand guns." she said.

"Cool I have an MP5-SD6 in my tactical bag, I'll bring it along and we can have ourselves a little competition. Say the loser has to buy the winner an ice cream cone." Chuck said.

"An ice cream cone?" Sam asked looking at Chuck like he was nuts.

"You've never eaten ice cream after spending time at the range? You have no idea what your missing. I'll show you what I'm talking about later when you buy me a cone." Chuck said with a smile.

"What do you mean when I buy you a cone, you mean when you buy me a cone." Sam said.

"I hear a lot of talk, but I don't think your ass can cash the check your mouth just wrote." Chuck said teasingly.

"I hold marksman titles at the Farm you know. I can out shot anyone." Sam said with real indignation. How dare he challenge her.

"Yes but that was Agent Samantha Glass CIA. When was the last time you shot competitively? I bet you an ice cream cone and raise you my dry cleaning that I can out shoot you." Chuck said with a smirk.

"How dare you! Do you know who I am? I'm Samantha Glass! I was born with a gun in my hand. You don't want any of this!" She said with a core of real anger. She was playing before but how dare he call her out like that.

"I'm so scarred. I can barely stop myself from shaking in my boots. You talk a big game but I don't see you raising the steaks, come on Agent Glass, call me out." Chuck said smirking. Melissa was sitting there confused, he was supposed to be charming her, not challenging her.

"Fine you want me to raise the steaks? I will! Melissa what's Charlie here good at, he started with the chores, what should I ask for?" Sam asked Melissa.

Melissa looked over at Chuck with a raised eyebrow and he nodded once. She smiled, he had a plan. "Ask for a foot massage. He's got magic hands." Melissa said blushing.

"Oh I like the sound of that, alright Charlie I want a foot massage when I win." Sam said giving him a hard stare.

"Then I want a show if I win. I want agent Glass to put on a little show tomorrow. I want you to bring me lunch, in a sexy little black dress, and I want people to see you hand it over to me." Chuck said laughing.

"Fine! But I'm going to get that foot rub. Meet you in the lobby in ten minutes. You better bring you're A game Charlie! Cause I'm gonna bring mine!" Sam said getting up and walking out of the apartment.

"Chuck, what are you doing?" Melissa asked.

"I'm getting to know Sam. Well I'm getting to know agent Glass first, then later I'm going to get to know Sam." Chuck said getting up and walking over to the tactical bags. He dumped them out on the bed. He put the MP5 and five mags back in one of the bags. He added Melissa's extra Glock19 and five mag along with five mages for his Sig229. He put the rest of the stuff in the other bag and left it on the side of the bed. He changed out of his suit and into blue jeans and a black tee shirt. He put on his Chuck Taylor's, and grabbed a leather motorcycle jacket before he came out of the bedroom. "Don't wait up for me, it's going to be a late night." Chuck said heading out the door.

"I won't, I'll see you tomorrow Chuck. Good luck!" she said waving to him.

When Chuck got out of the elevator Sam was in the lobby waiting for him. She changed out of her skirt and dress shirt. She was now sporting black cargo pants, a black tank top and a leather jacket. She had her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and she was wearing black combat boots. She look every bit the bad ass her file said she was standing there with her gun bag slung over her shoulder. She looked him in the eyes with her cold agent mask in place. But he also saw how her shoulders slumped just a little when she thought he wasn't looking or how sad here eyes looked. He needed to keep here focused for this to work, he needed her angry. He wanted her to feed off that anger.

"I see you're taking this seriously, good I don't want to face Sam glass tonight, no I want to go up against agent Samantha Glass CIA. I want your best tonight. This whole thing is fueled by respect. I want to know if I owe you some or not" Chuck said as the doorman pulled his car up. They got in and Chuck punched in an address in the navigation.

"I want that foot rub. Plus I want you to know this now. I'm gonna whoop that ass Charlie." She said smirking. Chuck drove them twenty minutes south to a warehouse district by the harbor. He found the building they were looking for and parked in the almost empty lot. When they got to the door they where met by a guy in a suit.

"Fulcrum Command said to open the range for you. If you will just hand over your RI badge I can enter you into the system and I can leave you to it." the man in the suit said. Chuck handed over the ID and the guy swiped it through the card reader and punched in a ten digit code. He handed the ID back and opened the door. He lead them into the storage area and through that into a full shooting range. "Fulcrum Command said to give you full access to the all of the range. That includes the gun cage over there, your ID will open it. You will find a huge selection of guns in there. That door over there leads to the ammo room. Help your selves. When your all done if you can kill the lights and lock up that would be great." The guy said before he left them. Chuck sat his bag on a table and pulled out his gear, he looked over at Sam and saw she had the same things. An MP5, hers was an mod. A1 with a red dot sight, and two hand guns. A glock19 and a sig229. When Sam looked over at his table she laughed. "How you wanna play this?" She asked slamming a mag in her MP5.

"How about we let off a few rounds to get started, then we can play a little game of horse. We'll take turns calling out guns, target size and distance." Chuck said holding down the button to send the paper target down range. "I do have to ask you a question though. That sign says the range is 120 feet long. How far would you say that target is?" Chuck asked letting go of the button.

"Um… 80 feet? Give or take?" She said looking at the small six by six inch target. "Why?" She asked.

"Well I just wanted you to know who you're up against. You talked all that big game at the apartment about holding records, and my file says nothing about me so I wanted to level the playing field by showing you." Chuck said before he pulled his sig and let off three shots. He smiled and put his gun down holding the button to call the target back. When it go closer she saw the X in the ten ring was replaced by a round hole. He handed the target to her smirking. "You can call off the bet now if you want to." He said with a cocky smile.

Sam looked at the target and knew she was going to lose, but a part of her, the part that was Agent Glass didn't care, he challenged her and God damn it she was not going to back down! "You think I'm afraid of you?" She asked laughing. "I want you out of your shirt when I get my foot massage, I want something to look at when I'm getting pampered." She said eyeing him like a piece of meat.

Chuck's smile feel off his face. "It's so on now! I'm going to make you dress like June Claver when you drop off my lunch tomorrow. I think you'll call me honey when you do it. I bet you would look good in pearls." Chuck said putting on his agent mask, but on the inside he was smiling, she was playing into his hands and she didn't even know it. But he got to meet Agent Glass now, and he liked what he saw. Gone was the slumped shoulders and sad look in her eyes. No they were replaced by fire. She radiated power, and she was looking to put him in his place.

"I'll give you pearls." She said before she shouldered her MP5 and let off a long burst of full auto on a salute target ten feet away. When Chuck looked at it he smiled. She shot a line of holes across the neck.

"Get warmed up, let off a few hundred rounds. I don't want you trying to make any excuses when you bring me lunch tomorrow." Chuck said smirking. She gave him the evil eye and emptied the rest of her 32 round mag into the center of the paper target.

Chuck walked back to his lane and put up another six by six inch target. He sent it to the back of the lane and shouldered his MP5. He shot once and the X was replaced by a hole. He spent the next two minutes emptying his magazine and called the target back. He smile when he saw just one big hole in the ten ring. He spent the next half hour just shooting. Getting comfortable with holding different guns. He pulled an M4 from the cage and ran a few mags through it. He did the same for the UMP.45 as well. He was just going to pull a G36c out when Sam came marching up to him. "We gonna do this or what." She asked.

"I'm good to go. You pick first." He said.

"Okay, I say Glock19, six inch target, fifty feet." She said. Chuck loaded up the target and moved it out fifty feet. She stood up to the lane and took aim with her Glock19. She fired and landed her shot dead center. "I want to see you do that." She said smirking confidently.

Chuck looked at the target, nodded, picked up his Glock19 and fired. There was no second hole.

"Did you miss?" She asked.

"No I just put my shot through the same hole." Chuck said shrugging.

"No way in hell. I want proof, put up another target." she said crossing her arms.

"Okay, but the results will be the same." Chuck said sending a target down range in the next lane. When it lined up with the other one he picked up the Glock and fired. The hole was dead center. "I duplicated your shot, so no letter this round. My turn. Ten inch target. One hundred feet away, MP5." Chuck said calling the target back and sending out the bigger target. At about one hundred feet he stopped it, picked up his MP5, shouldered it, and fired, hitting the dead center. "Your turn Honey." He said stepping back. She picked up her MP5 and took careful aim. She shot and missed the center by just a few centimeters. "Nice try, but I do believe that's an H don't you?" He said.

They kept at it for an hour, and as 11PM rolled around Sam had 'HORS' and Chuck had 'HOR' it was his turn to duplicate her shot. He looked down range. Eighty feet. Ten inch target. Glock19. Closest to the bull's-eye. He knew he could make that shoot. It was well in range for him, and he didn't mind using the Glock19, but the point was not to win this competition. No the point was to get Sam back to being Agent Glass. To get her confidence back. He took aim and fired.

"Ah ha! I got you! We're on the same level now!" She said smirking as she held up the target showing his miss low and to the left of hers.

"The game ain't over yet Honey." Chuck said smirking. "One last round. We're tied right now. Lets play this one a little differently. One shot. Six inch target. As far out as it can go. You pick the gun and take the first shot. Closest to the X wins." Chuck said sending the target out.

Sam walked over to the cage and pulled out an M14 with a scope. Chuck saw the rifle and had to turn away so she wouldn't see him smile. He was really starting to get good at this planning stuff. He didn't know if it was the Intersect, his years of gaming, or his time spent around Casey and Sarah. All he knew was that his mind made these connections now, and it did it very fast. Even hungry, and tiered he still knew just what to do. The point of going to the firing range was to get her back into the agent mind set. He was hoping the compotation would bring back memories of being at the Farm. He knew that if he got her mad enough she would forget about the here and now and concentrate on beating him. It had been working well but she still was holding back. He was about to start in on the verbal abuse but he didn't have to. Samantha Glass had completed many mission in her eleven years as an Agent, but three of her Intelligence Stars came from missions involving the assassinations of three very bad men. On three separate occasion she had made some very important shots. All of them fired from an M14. Two of them at distances close to the very edge of the M14's maximum kill range. She put the gun on her lane counter and leaned over, bending at the waist. She dropped one round into the breech and let the bolt carry slide home. She rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath. As she let it out she squeezed the trigger and rifle barked sending the brass jacketed lead round down range. It hit the target with laser like accuracy. She stood up and handed the rifle to Chuck with a sexy little edge to her smile.

"Your turn Charlie. But I do think I won." She said in a seductive voice.

Chuck looked down range and put the rifle down. "I would have paid any price to see agent Samantha Glass fire an M14. It's like watching Deviance paint the Mona Lisa. A true thing of beauty." Chuck said bowing his head over her hand and kissing her knuckles.

She blushed and looked away. "I haven't made a shot like that in a long time. It felt good. It felt right. I feel powerful. I haven't felt this good in a long time. Thank you Chuck." She said softly.

Chuck walked around her and stood behind her. He bent over and whispered in her ear. "I want you to close your eyes and just savor this feeling. Let it wash over you. Take it in and just let it roll around in your body. I need you to remember it. Because the next time you feel like you're not an agent any more I want you to close your eyes and remember this feeling. This moment, right now." She closed her eyes and shivered as goosebumps ran up her arms. Chuck circled his arms around her and pulled her to him. "Sam, you were one of the best agents the CIA has ever had. You think your not that person anymore. But you are Sam. You still are, and you've never stopped being that person. It's been my goal form the very start of this mission to form a team. To recruit the very best of the best. From the moment I saw you in that lobby I knew I found another member of that team. Sam it's time to be an agent again. It's time to stop pretending that your not the very best of the best. It's time to shake off the last two years and answer the call of service again. Your country needs you Sam, but more importantly, I need you. The team needs you." Chuck said holding her close.

She lest out a choked sob and bowed her head. "I Don't know if I can anymore." She said.

"Let me show you something." He said walking her up to the lane. He called the target, and when it got to them Chuck pointed at the bullet hole, "Stop lying to yourself. Look at it Sam. Look at the perfection of the shot. Look at your skills, your talent. You were born from spies Sam. The blood of two legends flows through you. You were born as a spy. You were raised as a spy. You were trained as a spy. And no matter what you do form this day forward you are going to die as a spy. I want you to do me a favor. Carina is going to fly to D.C. tomorrow afternoon. I want you to go with her. I think you need to remember who you are. I have a mission for you. I want you to walk into Arlington cemetery and find your grave site. I want you to look at it standing there with the rest of the heroes, and I want you to think about the fact that you are going to end up there no matter if you join the team or if you spend the rest of your life on a beach somewhere. You're a hero Sam. You can be happy with that fact and your eleven years of flawless service, or you can look at that grave and say: 'not yet! I'm not done yet.' I will respect you no matter what you do. While you're there you might want to visit your mother's grave as well. Tell here about the last two years and ask her what you should do. When you have your answer I want you to come back here and tell me. We'll go out to dinner and celebrate your retirement, or your new position on the team." Chuck said pulling her tighter.

She turned her head and rested it on his chest. "Thank you Chuck. I needed that. Now I think you owe me an ice cream cone, and a foot rub." She said smiling.

"That I do. Let's get our things together and lets go. I know a shop that serves the best ice cream late at night." Chuck said packing up his guns and grabbing five boxes of 9mm ammo.

Ten minutes later, and Chuck pull into the parking lot of a an ice cream shop called 31 shades of green. Sam looked at the sign and looked back at Chuck. "What kind of ice cream shop is this?" She asked eyeing a group of stoners stumbling out the front door.

"Well that's a long story." Chuck said leading her into the shop. "About five years ago this guy opened up a specialty ice cream shop. He made his own crazy flavors and stayed open late, well his shop became a hangout for pot smokers, so he got a license to sell medical marijuana. Now he sells both, and some medical baked goods. I come for the ice cream. So what do you want?" He asked pointing to a huge board with names on it.

"I have no clue?" She said smiling.

"Okay lets start with the basics, cone, or cup?" He asked pointing to the waffle cones.

"You said cone, so I want a big waffle cone." She said.

"Okay next question, are you in the mood for sweet, savory, or both?" He asked.

"Um, both." She said.

"Okay, well he makes this special blend called the munchies. It's chocolate cookie dough ice cream with potato chips in it. It's very good and I think you'll like. I my self am getting a two scoop of olive oil, and black cherry ice cream. How about this, if you don't like your ice cream we can trade?" He asked as they got to the counter.

"That sounds good." She said nodding.

Chuck ordered and they got their cones. They sat outside on a bench and Sam tried her cone. "Oh, this is good! It's the perfect blend of everything! Do they sell it by the pint?" she asked between licks.

"I'm not sure but I think if you went in there and asked real nice he would sell you anything." Chuck said laughing.

"Your's looks good too. What's it taste like? I've never heard of olive oil ice cream." She said eyeing his cone.

"You want to try it?" He asked.

"You're not afraid of coodies?" She asked trading cones.

"Nope. I had a coodie shot when I was in the second grade." He said trying her cone.

"You know those ware off right?" She asked laughing.

"OH GOD I'm GOING TO DIE NOW!" Chuck said panicking. Sam laughed so hard she almost feel off the bench. "How can you laugh at a time like this!? I just found out I got coodies!" Chuck asked scratching his arms.

"I think you'll live." She said between laughs.

"How can you be sure?" Chuck asked looking at her with hope in his eyes. That set her off again.

"Here hold out your arm." She said. She took his arm. "Circle, circle, dot, dot, now you've got a coodie shot." She said poking his arm. They both laughed. When the laughing died down she hugged him. "Thanks Chuck. I had a good time tonight." She said going back to her ice cream and handing him back his cone.

"Well the night's not over yet. I do believe I owe you a foot massage." He said wiggling his fingers.

"That's right! I can't wait. My left foot's been hurting since I got caught in the blast of the drug lab. I think I sprained it." She said finishing her cone.

"I must admit. I don't mind the foot massages. I'm always surprised you ladies like them so much. I mean what's the big deal?" He asked finishing his cone and walking towards the car.

"Women ware uncomfortable shoes. We end up with foot pain." She said shrugging. She flipped on the radio and found a rock station, and Closing Time by Semisonic was on. Sam smiled. "I love this song." She said singing along with the words, Chuck smiled and sang along too. They made it back to Roark Tower singing Jumper by third eye blind. They got out and Chuck tossed the keys to the door man with his scary look.

They went up to Sam's apartment on the third floor. Chuck walked in and tossed his coat on loveseat. He pulled off his tee-shirt. "Okay so where do you want to do this?" He asked.

"Why did you take your shirt off?" She asked.

"Because you told me too. Remember? I want something to look at?" He asked taking a seat on the couch.

"I was kidding, you can put your shirt on." She said laughing.

"What, you don't like my body anymore?" He asked in a pouty voice.

"Put your shirt back on. Do you want something to drink?" She asked pouring herself a vodka tonic.

"Johnny Walker if you got it. On the rocks please." He said putting his shirt back on. He was getting more comfortable around women with his shirt off he thought. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

She handed him a drink and sat on the couch next to him. She pulled off her boots and put her feet on his lap. Chuck pulled the socks off and started in on her right foot. "Wow! You are good at this." She said putting her head back on the arm rest.

"So tell me about yourself Sam." He said.

"Well you know my mom was Jennifer Glass. I was raised by my grandmother Bee, in Queens New York until I was three, Mom's cover was blown and she got shot in the leg on a mission. She needed physical therapy. So she moved me and my grandmother out to Pasadena California. She hooked up with her doctor and they got married after they found out mom was pregnant with Bobby. When Bobby came out as light as me he said Bobby wasn't his, a DNA test backed that up and he split. Mom never could keep it in her pants. I spent the next five years living with my grandmother and Bobby in California. Mom was always off on a mission somewhere. When I was ten, she was caught in an ambush and shot multiple times. She ended up with a shattered hip and couldn't work in the field any more. She moved us all out to D.C. so she could work at Langley. She took an interest in me when she saw me run track in school. From that day on she groomed me to be an agent. Every moment not spent in school was spent learning field craft, or Russian, or knife fighting. By the time a turned fifteen I could run the obstacle course at the Langley military base under the course record. At sixteen I finished the fast track at my high school and graduated top of my class. I was enrolled at The Farm the next week. I spent the next three years setting records at The Farm. Many of them held up until your wife showed up. I got my Red Test a week before my nineteenth birthday. I was on a plane to Russia the week after that and I never looked back. I spent every break I got with Bobby at home. My mom would always debrief me about my missions. She lived her last six years vicariously through me. She died in a car crash seven years ago. I started taking more breaks after that. By then a new agent had come along and started taking the suicide missions. They called her The Enforcer. She was a demon in the field. Once she gained a reputation for getting the job done no matter what, the pool of missions started to dry up. She was doing the work of three agents sometimes. She never took a break, she never took time off, she even worked hurt. There were roomers that she wasn't human. She was some kind of Terminator." Sam said with a sad smile.

"Did you ever work with her, or talk to her?" He asked rolling up her pants legs so he could work on her calves.

"No I never did, but then again I hated her up until two years ago. And she knew it. I was very vocal in my hate of her." Sam said as a look of shame crossed her face.

"Why?" Chuck asked.

"I'm getting to that just wait." She said playfully, but then she sobered up. She looked off and sighed. "After a while I was only used in Russia. It became my specialty. I spent some time working for Volkoff Industries. I tried working my way up the food chain but I never got close to the boss. It got to the point were I was doing questionable things for no real mission gains so I got out. That was five years ago. When I made it back to Washington I heard that while I was spinning my wheels in Russia, the Enforcer had overthrown a corrupt Chilean government by her self, with no support from Washington. I never meet Sarah Walker until today but I have to admit I hated her. I hated this young upstart, hot shot. I hated her for taking all the glory. For making me obsolete. I tried making waves, I tried to get a good assignment, but I was rejected. I was assigned to the US Embassy in Rome instead. I knew what it meant. They were giving me an unimportant job to keep me out of The Enforcer's way. Then three years ago an important mission came up in Moscow. Word got to me through one of my contacts of a credible threat on the Russian Prime Minister's life from within the Russian government. I called it in to Gram and I was expecting a call back with the green light. I sat in my apartment in Rome with my bags packed, just waiting. When the call came it was not for me to report to the Kremlin, no they sent Her again. They sent her to my territory! Russia was mine, MINE! They kept me busy though, they asked me to look over her dally reports to see if I could add something to them. It was the biggest slap in the face I had every seen. I took a leave of absence after that. I spent time with Bobby. Four months later they sent me on a fools errand in Bangkok. When I came home after that Fulcrum black bagged me and told me they would rape and torture Bobby if I didn't work for them. I think they thought I would jump at the chance to get real missions again. They didn't know I would rather die then turn traitor. Sarah Walker spent four months looking for me. She was only a few steps behind me. A few times we were even in the same building, but I never made contact with her. I was afraid of what they would do to Bobby. A lot of my hate for her died over those four months. She was so dedicated to finding me. She kept looking even when the CIA called off the search, and declared me dead. You Married a good woman Chuck. She's dedicated to the job and to doing the right thing. I never thought I would ever get the chance to tell her that. But now I will. I didn't do it today but I will soon." She said with tears in her eyes.

"She would like that. I think you should tell her what you told me. She needs to know how close she was. She was crushed when she couldn't find you. It's the only real failed mission she ever had. And you don't have to worry about Volkoff, We're going after them next." Chuck said working on a knot in her left calf.

"Oh Chuck that feels so good." Sam said purring.

"I think you tweaked something in your leg. It's so tight. And this looks like a bruise. Just how close to this explosion were you?" Chuck asked lifting her pants leg higher to look at the dark purple bruise.

"I was running out of the front door as the drug house exploded behind me." She said rolling over to lay on her stomach.

"Well you need to spend some time in the tub in our apartment upstairs. It's got so many water jet. Melissa spent a couple of hours in it today." Chuck said moving up her thigh. Her whole left leg was one big knot. It always amazed him how these soft, beautiful women could put themselves through so much trauma on a daily bases. He made a vow to look after them. They acted so tough all the time it was easy to forget they needed to be treated like ladies sometimes. They needed to be pampered, and looked after. He would do that from now on. He made real friends in Melissa and Sam. He was hoping to do the same with Kate and Jordan. But his new job on the team was going to be the team protector. Not in a physical sense, but in an emotional sense. He would take care of them all, and there were a lot of them. They were all different, and unique, but they were still ladies. Yes they were all highly trained killers, but that didn't mean they didn't have feelings. He saw a lot of nights like this one in his future. Who else would do it besides him? Casey? What a joke. No, Casey had a lot of very good qualities. He was an honorable man. He was dedicated to the team and his friends. He was always reliable. But he was not an emotional person. The sight of a crying woman scared him. No Casey would be the team's father in a way. He would look after them and make sure none of them came to any harm. He would growl at any man that got close to the girls. He would worry about them. He wouldn't admit it but he would lose sleep when one of them was off on a mission. And if they were ever in trouble he would move Heaven and Earth to get to them. No the emotional shoulder to cry on was going to be his. And as scary as that sounded he didn't mind. The more time he spent with these women the more he found himself loving them. Not in a romantic way but in a big brother/ best friend way. He wanted to protect them, to look after them. To sit next to Casey and growl at the men that came to take them on dates as they cleaned their guns. That thought made him laugh.

He looked down at Sam and saw she was asleep. He moved her legs and stood up. He bent over and picked her up. He carried her to her bedroom and set her on the bed. She stirred and mumbled something as she grabbed the front of her cargo pants. "What do you need?" he asked.

"Pants, take them off. Uncomfortable." She said falling back to sleep. Chuck reached down and undid her belt. he unsnapped her pants and pulled down the zipper trying not to wake her up. When he got her pants open he moved down to the end of the bed and pulled the legs. As her pants slid off she rolled over and slipped under the covers.

Chuck bent over her and kissed her forehead. "Good night Sammy." He said softly. Her hand came up and grabbed his head pulling him down on top of her.

"Stay Chuck? Please?" She said softly.

He rolled off of her smiling "I don't have much of choice" He said with a laugh. He pulled away from her and she made a sad whining sound. "I'm staying, just let me get comfortable." he said as he slid off his shoes, socks and jeans. He slid under the covers behind her and hugged her.

"Okay Sammy. Good night." He said pulling her close to him.

"love you Charlie." She said half asleep.

"I love you too." He said kissing the top of her head. He sighed. Yes he would look after his girls. He smiled at the way she called him Charlie. Then he thought about it. His name was Charles, and he did have a team of highly trained and skilled beautiful women. The them song from Charlie's Angels started to play in his head. He looked at his dark Angel and renewed his vow. He would look after his Angels. Dooo da dooo, deee dee doo doo. He let a small laugh escape as he slipped off to sleep. He dreamed of his angels.


	16. Chapter 16

AN!: I've gotten some reviews and PM asking about Chuck's comfort level around the other women, as well as some requests for Charah. I can only say that the explanations for both are coming along. Also don't start hating Chuck just yet. Wait until the end and see how for down the rabit hole he's going to fall before he can pull himself out. It's going to be a very fun ride.

Melissa tossed and turned in her sleep trying to get comfortable. She didn't know why she felt so bad but something wasn't right. She rolled over in bed and looked at the clock. 9:30 AM. She looked around for any sign of Chuck and didn't find any. Then she thought about it and smiled when she remembered last night. He was still with Sam. She got out of bed and tossed on a bath robe. She laid out his gray suit and bag. It was his last one, she needed to hit up a dry cleaners, and the Armani store to pick up the order she put in yesterday. She then got dressed and looked through her purse until she found it. She smiled.

Chuck felt funny. Like he was being watched. He took stock in his situation before opening his eyes. He was in his now very predictable position of being spooned up against a woman. His hand was not cupping her breast thankfully. His hand was flat against her abs, they were very firm to the touch. He inhaled and smelled coconut. Not the most pleasant smell but not bad at all. His brain made the connections and he remembered he was sleeping with Sam. He still felt like he was being watched though, and if he was holding Sam, and they were the only two people here last night, then someone else was in the room. He remembered putting his gun on the nightstand before he feel asleep. He just hoped it was still there. Taking a deep breath he tensed every muscle in his body. He sprang out of bed picking up his gun as he did so and roll across the floor coming to a kneeling position in the corner of the room with his gun up. He saw Melissa standing in the door way smiling at him. "That's not funny at all!" he said trying to get his heart rate down.

"It's a little funny." Sam said sitting up in bed, she turned to Melissa. "How did you get in?" She asked.

"With these," Melissa said holding up a set of lock picks. "I haven't used them in a long time. It took me a few tries to get it, But I still got it." she said with a smile.

"What time is it?" Chuck asked getting up off the floor.

"It's almost ten, you need to shower and get dressed for work. You've got a lot to do today. Do you need any help?" Melissa asked.

"No I've got this and if anything goes wrong I can call Jordan." Chuck said putting his pants on.

"Well get moving. You're already late." Melissa said pushing him out the door.

"All right I'm moving! You're worse then my wife!" He said as she pushed him out the door.

"Have a good day at work Honey. I'll see you later. I'll bring you lunch so you don't have to eat tofu again." Melissa said kissing him on the cheek as she closed the door. Chuck looked at his watch and sighed.

"Another day at my dream job." He said as he got into the elevator.

Sam sat up in bed when Melissa walked into the bedroom. "So how do you feel?" She asked sitting next to Sam on the bed.

"I feel good. Really good actually." Sam said rolling her neck.

"I told you didn't I? One night with Chuck makes you feel like a new woman. What did you do last night? Noting too bad I hope? I don't have to report you to Sarah do I?" Melissa asked with a smile.

"No, nothing too bad. I mean there was a few times last night when I thought about it, but no I never asked and he never offered." Sam said blushing.

"Well he will never offer, but I'm surprised you didn't ask." Melissa said with a smirk.

"Well I was going to at the shooting range last night but then he held me close and told me things. I can't even begin to tell you what he said to me, I can't remember the exact phrasing. It's like he put me in a trance with his words, but I know what he meant. I feel good today. Like I did a long time ago. I feel energized. He tricked me into shooting an M14 last night you know?" Sam said with a soft smile.

"I don't get it?" Melissa said.

"I've been avoiding that gun. I don't dare touch one. I used one three times in my career, and each time I was awarded an Intelligence Star. I used one to shoot the leader of a terrorist cell in Iran. I used one to assassinate an up and coming dictator in Honduras from two hundred yards away. I also used one as a counter sniper in Afghanistan, my one shot saved the president's life. But since I've been working for Fulcrum I don't even look at them. I had a few opportunities to use one but I didn't. I can't bring myself to use that gun for Fulcrum." Sam said looking at her hands.

"So you used it last night. Does that mean your going to join the team?" Melissa asked.

"I don't know yet, Chuck gave me a mission first. When I come back I'll have an answer for you. Why are you asking me anyways?" Sam asked.

"I want to know who I'm going to be working with silly. Plus I'm making something for the members of the team and I need to know who's joining." Melissa said.

"What are you making?" Sam asked.

"That would spoil the surprise!" Melissa said waving her off.

"Fine, don't tell me." Sam said pouting.

"Okay I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else. I went to a jeweler yesterday afternoon for something and I saw a case full of Rolex watches. I'm going to get us all matching titanium Rolexes with our names on them, and Team Chuck on the back. I think it will be so cute." Melissa said.

"I'd hold off on that. I think I have a better idea. Last night when Chuck held me as we went to sleep he was humming the theme song to Charlie's Angels. I think Chuck's just realized his name is Charles and he's going to have a team of beautiful women working for him." Sam said laughing. "I'd go with some kind of angel pendent for us." Sam said holding her arms up in a fighting pose. That set Melissa off too.

"If we're Charlie's Angels can I be Sabrina Duncan?" Melissa said.

"No that's Jordan. No, you're Kelly Garrett. The emotional one. Always looking to keep us together." Sam said.

"Then I guess that makes you Jill Munroe? Are you going to run off and become a racecar driver too?" Melissa asked.

"No, I'm not. If I join, I'm in it for the long haul." Sam said.

"Dose this mean your joining the team?" Melissa asked with a sly smile.

"I told you already. I've got a mission first." Sam said pushing Melissa playfully.

"If you're Jill, and Jordan is Sabrina, and I'm Kelly what does that make Kate? Kris Munroe?" Melissa asked.

"I think it does. She was the gullible one of the group, and Kate is very easily tricked. We need to help her with that." Sam said.

"There you go saying we again. Will you just admit that you're joining the team already?" Melissa said with a giggle.

"I refuse. Not until I come back from my mission. I owe it to both Chuck and myself to go and do this first. I'll be back in a few days with an answer. For the record though, white gold looks good against my skin tone." Sam said with a smile.

Melissa squalled and hugged Sam. "That's so great." Melissa said.

"Don't tell anyone. Especially Chuck. I want him to know I'm taking his mission seriously." Sam said pushing Melissa off of her.

"Of course! I'll keep it just between me and you. This is going to be so much fun. We're going to be on a team together! We're going to go on real missions! And we'll be working with the best." Melissa said bouncing around on the bed. She hopped off the bed and hummed the Charlie's Angels theme song as she did kicks and mimed shooting a gun. Sam fell over laughing. "Don't pretend you don't want to join me." Melissa said. Sam smiled and shrugged as she hopped off the bed and joined her friend. Standing back to back.

Chuck sat in his office chair watching his laptop screen as the program uploaded and reformatted the ten 1TB passport drives hooked up to a UBS tower. He was half way there. He looked at his watch and saw he had just two hours before he needed to be in a meeting with Roark. When the program finished loading he pulled the ten drives and put them in his bag. He dropped his suit jacket on his desk and slung the bag over his shoulder. He looked out of his door and saw no one was around. He shut the door behind him as he ghosted down the hall. He made it to a power junction box and pulled out his Blackberry. He texted GO to Jordan before he shut down the main breaker. When the lights in the hall went out he took out a tazer and a rubber glove. He jammed the tazer into the junction box blowing out the breakers. He then flipped the switch back on and nothing happened. He pulled out a flashlight and ran down the hall. He got to a ladder and climbed up it till he got to the hatch. He crossed his fingers and pulled the lever. When it opened he sighed in relief.

He climbed up into the server control room and pulled seven of the passport drives and plugged them into the sever computers. He then stood in the corner with his gun out and pointed at the door. If someone came to check on the severs then he was going to have to shoot them. He sat in the dark for a few minutes before the lights came on. He glanced at the server screens and saw his program was up and running. He spent the next forty-five minutes standing in the corner waiting for anyone to come in. When the program was done running Chuck collected the hard drives and climbed down the ladder. The lights were still off and in the hall way. He pull his flash light and walked down the hall. He saw a bunch of maintenance workers standing around the junction box. He walked up to then. "Does anyone know what's going on?" he asked the workers.

"It looks like the junction box fried. It's going to be about an hour before the power is up and running."

"Is there power running to the lab room at the end of the hall?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah. This box runs the lights for the rest of the building. That room is on a separate grid." The guy said.

"Could a power serge from that lab be the cause of this box frying?" Chuck asked.

"It could be? I'm not sure." The guy in the hard hat said.

"Thanks guys. Keep up the good work. This place would stop running without guys like you." He reach into his pocket and pulled out a few hundred dollar bills. "Beers are on me guys." He said handing the money to the guys. He walked into his office and found Jordan sitting in his chair. "Roark send you down?" Chuck asked. As he pulled the drives out of his bag and plugged them in to the USB tower.

"Nope, I offered to come down and see if you needed anything. Roark wants to keep you happy." She said pointing at her chest.

"What a sick bustard." Chuck said as he consolidated all of the files in to one drive.

"Yes well, I'm going to need to make out with you at the very least before I leave here." Jordan said.

"Why? Can't you just say you showed me a good time?" He asked running his patch to convert the files into Intersect images.

"Because when you spend forty-five minutes making out and doing other things you look different. Your lips swell up, and your body gets flushed and other areas get moist." She said standing up and taking off her jacket and tossing it on the desk next to his.

"Okay but give me a minute. You might want to look away from the screen Jordan I've got this cranked up to eleven." Chuck said sitting in his chair and loosening his tie. She walked around the desk and took a seat on one of the two chairs, and pulled out her blackberry. He looked at the screen and hit enter. For the next ten minutes he downloaded 643GB into his head. When the download stopped Chuck's head fell back and he passed out. Jordan was out of her seat and holding his head in seconds.

"Chuck! Chuck can you hear me? Chuck?" She said picking up his eye lids and looking into his eyes. He was still breathing and his plus was strong. There was a knock at the door. She quickly unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it off reveling a black lace bra, she reached down, undid his pants, and pull them down. Someone knocked again. She ran to the door and opened it up a crack. It was a Maintenance worker. His eyes popped open when he saw her bra. "Yes, can I help you?" She asked with a big smile.

"Um… um, yeah. Um I, is the power still on in here?" he asked with his eyes lock on her chest.

"Yes it is. Was there anything else I can help you with?" She asked.

"Ummm…no um, have a nice day Ma'am." He said falling over himself as he walked away. Jordan was about to close the door when she saw Melissa walking down the hall carrying a shopping bag.

"MELISSA! Get in here right now! We have a problem!" She said waving franticly.

Melissa ran the last few feet to get to the lab. She walked into the room and found Chuck with his pants down and Jordan half naked. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE!?" She screamed.

"It's not what it looks like! I just did this incase it was Roark at the door. I'm supposed to be down here banging his brains out. But I'm not. I think he broke his brain with the Intersect!" Jordan said pulling on her shirt.

"What do you mean he broke his brain!? He can't break his brain!" She said pulling his pant's back up.

"I don't know what he did! He said he was going to download the information he just stole. He was staring at the screen for about ten minutes and then he just passed out!" Jordan yelled.

"Okay. Calm down!" Melissa said pulling out her cell phone.

"Who are you calling?" Jordan asked.

"His wife. He's had to have done this before." Melissa said exasperated.

"Hello?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah, it's Melissa. I think your husband fried his brain with the intersect. He downloaded a huge file and now he passed out." Melissa said with annoyance.

"Is he okay?" Sarah asked worried.

"Aside form being knocked out cold he's fine." Melissa said checking his plus.

"Do you know what happened?" Sarah asked with a hint of exasperation.

"I don't, but Jordan was with him when he did it. Here asked her." Melissa said handing the iPhone to Jordan.

"Jordan?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, Agent Walker, Ma'am." Jordan said standing at attention. Melissa giggled as she pulled up a chair next to Chuck's and held his hand.

"Cut the Ma'am crap. I want a report on what happened Major!" Sarah commanded.

"I was in his office when he came in Ma'am. I was sent down here to. Um… Keep him entertained. He loaded all of the files on to his laptop. I told him he needed to kiss me before I left his office so it looked like I was doing my job. You know how it works Ma'am. He said he needed to run his program first. He then hit a button and stared at the screen for about ten minutes. When the screen went dark he fell back in his chair out cold. Someone knocked on the door so I pulled his pants down and pulled my shirt off. When I got rid of the maintenance worker Melissa showed up and called you Ma'am." Jordan said.

"You did good Major. Put Melissa on the phone please." Sarah said. Jordan handed the phone back to Melissa and took a set back in her chair.

"Melissa, he's done this before, just not this bad. His brain needs to go over all of the information it just absorbed. He'll be fine in a bit. Just make sure he's comfortable and have pain meds and water handy. When he wakes up he's going to have a splitting headache. Just sit with him and he'll be fine Melissa." Sarah said reassuringly.

"So he's done this before?" Melissa asked running her hand through his hair.

"Yes." Sarah said smiling.

"Thank God." Melissa said holding his hand.

"You did really good Melissa. Just wait for him to wake up, and when he's back to feeling good I want you to smack him upside the head for being so dumb and for worrying all three of us." Sarah said laughing.

"I will Sarah you have my word on that. I'm going to beat your husband silly when he wakes up!" Melissa said squeezing his hand.

"I think it's funny how he's Chuck when he's done something good but he My husband when he's done something stupid." Sarah said laughing.

"That's right! It's your job to teach him it's not nice to scary the women that love him like that. It's not funny and it's not nice." Melissa said pouting.

"I know. I'm going to have to teach him better. I'm kind of disappointed in him. He should know better then to scare us like this. All joking aside, Melissa, I need you to do me a big favor. Jordan came down there to hook up with Chuck. She needs to look like she did." Sarah said cringing.

"I know what to do, don't worry. I've got this. It's kind of my area of expertise. I'll see you later Sarah." Melissa said hanging up. She put away here phone and dropped her purse and jacket on her chair as she stood up. "You need to sure up your cover." Melissa said coming to stand next to Jordan. She looked Jordan over and nodded. She reached out and pulled two clumps of hair out of her tight bun, she bent over and bit off the top and third buttons of her shirt, and spit them into her hand. She tucked the buttons into Jordan's shirt pocket and walked around the older woman. She grabbed two handfuls of Jordan's blouse and bunched them up making them look wrinkled. She walked up to her purse and pull out a small bottle of chuck's after shave. At Jordan's raised eyebrow she shrugged. "I'm supposed to be with him. I keep a copy of his things with me. You know the drill." She said splashing some aftershave on her hands and rubbing them together. When the cologne dried into her hands she rubbed Jordan's neck and shoulders whit her hands. "Give me your panties." She said holding her hand out to Jordan. The older woman blushed as she took off her black lace thong and handed it over. "I'll keep it for you and give it back later. I would hate to break up one of your sets." Melissa said smiling.

"Thank you. I really like this set." Jordan said looking away.

"You should, it looks good on you." Melissa said tucking the thong into her purse. "Come on, you know what happens next." Melissa said smirking.

"I haven't been with a woman since training." Jordan said blushing.

"Well I don't think we need to go that far but, lets start with a kiss and see where it takes us." Melissa said wiping her lip stick off so the two shades of red wouldn't blend together. Jordan was very hesitant at first, but as Melissa deepened the kiss she relaxed into the younger women's arms and closed her eyes. Melissa ran her hands over Jordan's body to spread the cologne around. She thought about what to do next. She didn't know how far to go, or even where to go. Then she thought about what Chuck would do. She smirked as she slid her hand up Jordan's leg and caressed her thighs. She bit her lower lip hard enough to bruise, but not enough to draw blood. She moved down to her neck and bit her on her pulse point just hard enough to leave a mark. She continued down to the junction of her neck and shoulder and marked her there too. Jordan shuddered and her knees grew weak. Melissa smiled and thought about what Chuck said. This is that power he was talking about. She ran her hand up Jordan's skirt and played with her stocking top. When Jordan shuddered again she kissed Jordan's neck and sank two fingers into her quivering sex. Jordan let out a cry of pleasure and came so hard her eyes rolled back in her head. Melissa helped her sit down on a chair.

"My God That Was Good!" Jordan said blushing bright red.

"Thank you. I'm quite good at that. I've been assigned to many Female assets, and I take pride in my skills, but what I just did to you was the Carmichael special." Melissa said picking up Jordan suit jacket and wrinkling it. "Now you've been down here for a while, and Roark is going to start looking for you soon. You have to get going." Melissa said helping her up. She walked her to the door and handed Jordan her jacket.

"I don't know what to say." Jordan said looking away.

"Say nothing. Just go, we'll talk about this later." Melissa said with a smile.

"But I mean. you just had your hand…"

"Jordan. We're going to be team mates soon. That's as close as family as far as I'm concerned. We need to look out for each other. You needed to look like you spent the last two hours getting fucked by Charles Carmichael. Now you do. It's nothing more then that. Now go back upstairs and tell that sick bustard that Chuck is too worn out to do anything so he has to push the meeting back until tomorrow." Melissa said. Jordan walked out of the room and Melissa went to sit with Chuck. She held his hand for almost an hour until he started to come to.

"Owww. My head. I'm never drinking again." He said rolling his neck.

"You didn't drink, you knocked yourself out with the Intersect." Melissa said smacking him in the back of the head.

"HEY! Why'd you do that for!?" He asked holding his head.

"For scaring Me, Jordan, and Sarah! That's why!" She said smacking him again.

"Ah. Stop hitting me! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Trust me I have way too much to do. What time is it? I need to get to a meeting, and where is Jordan?" Chuck said looking at his watch.

"Don't worry about Jordan or the meeting. I took care of her and I told Jordan to cancel it." Melissa said handing him two Aspirin and a bottle of water from bag she brought. "I also got you some lunch here." She said pulling a big sandwich out of the bag.

"Melissa! I needed to have that meeting!" Chuck said standing up, as he did he felt light headed. He fell back in his chair and shook his head.

"You are going to sit in that chair and not move mister! I'll go talk to Roark. What did you need from him? She said pulling out her phone.

"I need to request the use of Sam for a suicide mission in Washington D.C. I need him to think I'm sending her to a CIA substation to retrieve Intersect data. I want him to second her to me for two weeks. I need it to sound like I could do it my self, but I would have to stop working." Chuck said taking a bite of his turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich.

"I can do that." She said typing in her iPhone. "Is there anything else you need?" She asked.

"Yes, I need Sam's phone number, and a burner phone." Chuck said.

"Here take two, I've got three more in my bag." She said handing him two cheap flip phones. "And I just texted you Sam's number on your blackberry." She said walking to the door. "I think today proved that I'm going to have to come to work with you from now on. Then I can help you, and it will sure up my cover as your assistant. I'm going to keep your schedule, and make sure you don't do anything stupid." She said as she shut the door stopping his protests.

Chuck stared at the door for a minute after she left with a smile on his face. "I'm guessing I have no say in this?" He said out loud before going back to his lunch.

Melissa called Jordan. "Melissa?" Jordan answered.

"After all that you don't call me! You don't text my! Was I just a good lay to you? Is that all you wanted form me?" Melissa asked with a fake sob.

"Um I don't, um I'm sorry?" Jordan asked unsure.

"How's it feel to be on the receiving end of that conversation?" Melissa asked laughing.

"That was not funny! I didn't know what to say to all that." Jordan said with a sigh of relief.

"Well I thought it was funny." Melissa said getting into the elevator.

"What do you want Melissa?" Jordan asked impatiently.

"I need to get a few minutes with Roark. It turns out Chuck really needed that meeting I canceled and now I'm coming up to talk for him. He's still recovering. His balance is all off, and we can't let Roark see him like that. He'll know something's up. So I'm going to play assistant like you do. Set it up I'm on the way." Melissa said.

Melissa walked off the elevator and up to Jordan's desk. Jordan was on the phone yelling at someone. When she saw Melissa she waved her towards the door. Melissa knocked and Ted called her in. He was sitting behind his desk. She looked at the short chairs in front of his desk and instead walked over to the wall of windows. "What can I do for you?" Ted asked looking impatient.

"Chuck needs some kind of file off a secure sever in a CIA substation in Washington. He want's to leave tonight. He said he'd be gone for a few days. Maybe a week at the most. He said he might need to go on a few other little trips like this. It seams like the CIA separated the master Intersect files into a few different Substations. He thinks he can reconstruct the missing files if he has some of them. He's going tonight. He should have some of the files in a few days. He says there is very little risk of him getting caught, and if he does he can just shoot his way out. Well that's all he told me." She said walking to the door.

"Wait! He's planning to walk into a CIA substation to steal files off the computer? Files he needs to fix the Intersect? Is he nuts?" Ted asked.

"I'm of the opinion that he's sane, but a lot of people think he's crazy." Melissa said playing up her dumb call girl act.

"Out of the question! No way in hell is he going to do that! He's way too valuable!" Ted said standing up.

"Who else is going to go? I can't go. I'm not trained for that kind of stuff. And Jordan out there is a fucking dinosaur. No one is on Chuck's level. Who can you send?" Melissa asked, looking at Roark like he lost his mind. "I thought this is why you wanted to work with him?" She asked shrugging, but inside she we thinking, say Sam, say Sam.

"He is way too valuable right now to risk losing him. Do you think he would come up here and talk to me about this mission? Do you think I can talk him out of going?" He asked pacing.

No thought Melissa. She was quick on her feet though, "I Don't know if he could make it up here. Your old whore out there fucked him half stupid. I can see why you keep that old bitch around. Chuck looked dehydrated when I brought him his lunch. I think if you came down to the lab you could talk to him. Now I don't know if you can talk him out of going. He had his heart set on going himself." Melissa said looking at her iPhone.

"Do you think you can talk him out of it? Think about it Melissa, what if he goes and they're waiting for him? What if they take him, and toss him in a cell? We're going to be screwed big time! Can you… do something to change his mind?" Ted asked.

"I could have, but your old whore fucked him half to death. I also refuse to touch him with her old bitch stink on him. As far as I'm concerned she defiled my favorite toy. I'm not touching him till he's cleaned the stink of that geriatric slut off of him. Maybe the next time you want your old whore to fuck someone you should think about the consequences. Now I can go down there and put on the water works and beg him not to go but I think you need to get your ass down there and have a little talk with him. Because as far as I'm concerned I think he could pull this off with his eyes fucking closed. I think you're the one underestimating him, but if you really feel strongly about this I'd take a ride in the elevator." Melissa said with her hands on her hips and an angry scowl on her face.

"I will, but can you soften him up a little bit like you said, you know cry on him a bit. I'll give you some time. I need him to stay here." Ted said wringing his hands.

"I will, but if he wants sex I refuse to touch him after she did. She's old enough to be his mother for fuck's sake. The nasty old bitch." Melissa said aiming white hot rage through the door.

"Please Melissa. I know I can't threaten him, I can't manipulate him and if he thinks I am he'll kill all of us. The guy is certifiable." Ted begged.

"I make you no promises. But I will try to talk him out of it." Melissa said walking out the door. When she walked passed Jordan's desk she got in the older woman's face. "And you. Old bitch. If you touch my man again I'll gut you like a fucking fish!" She yelled. Jordan looked at her with fear in her eyes. Before Melissa turn to leave she tossed Jordan a small wink. She crossed to the elevator and slammed her fist into the call button and stomped in. She waited for the doors to close before she laughed. When she got to the subbasement she ran to Chuck's office. She pounded on the door and he called out "It's open" she walked in and took a seat on his lap. She grabbed the back of his head and smashed her mouth to his.

After the very intense kiss ended she pulled back laughing. "I swear. Working with you is the best ever! I just spent the last fifteen minutes yelling at Ted Roark. He's coming down here in ten minutes to beg you not to go. I'm pretty sure you could ask for His first born and he'd hand it over if he wasn't an impotent old prick. I made sure he doesn't loan Jordan out for any more play time. I also left the door open for you to make him squirm like the rat that he is. I need to make you look like Jordan first. He thinks you two spent two hours this afternoon screwing like horny teenagers. Take your tie off. Unbutton the top three buttons of your shirt, and un-tuck it." She got up took his tie and tossed it into the corner. She looked him over and shook her head. "Not good enough! I really messed her up, you need to look like you did that to her." She said staring at him. "Chuck how much do you trust me?" She asked blushing.

"With my life. You know that. Why?" He asked unbuttoning his cuffs and rolling them up.

"Well if you two did the things she said you did then you and this room would not look like this. Or smell like this for that matter." She said sniffing the air. She looked down at her watch and saw they only had seven minutes. She took off her jacket and pulled her shirt over her head. When she dropped her skirt Chuck stood up.

"Melissa, what are you doing?" Chuck asked looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Chuck, remember when I said if we ever needed to make it look good I wanted you to come at me with all of your charm and not stop till I told you to? Well this is that time." She said pulling off her red panties and sitting on his desk. "Charles, turn on the charm!" She said grabbing his shirt and pulling him to her.

Chuck took a deep breath and drooped into agent mode. Gone was the look of confusion. It was replaced with lust. He grabbed the back of her neck with his right hand and pulled her mouth to his. He kissed her hungrily, invading her mouth with his tongue and biting her bottom lip. His right hand grabbed her left breast through her bra and squeezed making her moan. He broke the kiss and trailed his tongue down her neck to the valley of her cleavage. "Please Charles, I need to cum so bad." She moaned. Chuck fell to his knees and kissed her stocking top. He ran his tongue over her inner thigh and nipped her soft pink flesh making her breath catch. He grabbed her legs and pushed them apart as he attacked her sex with his mouth. She came in seconds with a small scream. He sucked her clit out of it's hood and fluttered his tongue over it making her cum again this time wetting the desk with her juices. Chuck slipped two fingers into her sensitive sex and bit down softly on her clit sending her over again. She reaching out and scratched her nails across his neck and cheek. The pain made his arm jerk forcing his fingers deeper and him to blow a raspberry on her clit forcing her to cum again. She pushed him back and crawled off his desk. "No more Chuck, please." She said falling into his chair. Chuck shook his head and stood up. He wiped his hand on his shirt and helped Melissa stand up. She put her skirt and shirt back on and fixed her hair. Chuck sat down in his vacated seat and looked green. "You still feel like puking afterwards?" She asked softly stroking his face where she scratched him.

"I try not to. I know what we did was needed, and I'm thinking about what you said about your feelings getting hurt and try not to react like that. Your right to feel bad when I act like this. I mean how would I feel if I was on the receiving end of that and you turned all green and tossed your lunch?" Chuck asked with a sad look on his face.

"It's okay Chuck. I totally get it. I'm not offended by it. You just think about sex differently then I do. I wouldn't feel as bad as you do right now if we had just had a raw, nasty, quickie. It just doesn't effect me at all, especially with you. I know you, and I trust you. I love you Chuck, and if doing what we just did can help us then I'm going to do it every time. Now sit there and look mad." She said collecting her things. She sat in his lap and felt his hardness. She smiled sadly. She would never get it, yet it was so close. But then she looked in his eyes and saw how embarrassed he was. She gave him a sad smile and kissed his forehead. "I know, and it's okay. You didn't cheat on Sarah by doing with we just did, or the fact that you're excited. I'd be insulated if you weren't." She said hugging him. "Now I have to start sobbing I need you to hold me until Roark comes." She said laying her head on his shoulder. He felt her body shake before he heard the sob. He tightened his arms around her and rubbed her back.

"Melissa I want you to know I love you too. I would do anything for you, anything. Thank you for being here with me." He said kissing the top of her head. A minute later Ted knocked on the door. Chuck was about to call out that it was open when he remembered he needed to call Sam and tell her the mission was on. "Melissa I need you to call Sam and tell her she has a green light on her mission. Tell her I'll clear it with the team when Roark leaves." he said before he called out "Open!" Ted walked in and saw Melissa sitting on Chuck and crying her eyes out. The room still smelled like sex and sweat. He smiled. Jordan really knew what she was doing he thought when he saw the scratch marks on Chuck's face. That woman was very good. "Ted, I guess you're here to talk me out of going on a very important mission too?" Chuck asked rubbing Melissa's back.

"I am. Your just too valuable Charles. You have to think about the group as a whole. If you get captured or killed we're screwed big time. Who's going to continue your work?" Ted asked taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Yes Chuck, think about me! What am I going to do if you die?" Melissa wailed.

Chuck flinched and pretended to be annoyed. "I am a deep cover agent Melissa, I can handle one infiltration and retrieval job for Christ's sake! I'm not made of glass you know?" He said pushing Melissa off his lap, and making her stand up.

"Damn it Chuck! I love you! You can't leave me!" She said.

"I'm an agent Melissa, we don't fall in love, you know that! Now go and get us a couple bottles of water." Chuck said smacking her on the ass and sending her out the door. "As for you Ted, I've got one question. If I don't go who the hell is going to go instead? Because I only know three people that can pull this off, and if you take me off that list we're left with that bitch that married me and ran off, and the man I kill two days ago. So who do you have Ted?" Chuck asked.

Melissa walked out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom, she pulled her iPhone out and called Sam.

"Hey Melissa, what's up?" Sam asked.

"Chuck said you're green for the mission. He said he'll call the team and fill them in after his meeting with Roark. Good luck Sam, and I'll have your angel waiting for you when you get back." Melissa said smiling.

"I'll see you in a few days." Sam said before she hung up. Sam went to her closet and pulled out a black rolling suitcase and her tactical bag. She didn't think she would need it but it was better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it. That's what her mother always told her.

She left her apartment and hopped into a cab. She made it to the Orange-Orange in twenty minutes and overpaid the driver to forget he ever saw her. She walked into the yogurt shop and saw three people in the place. See spotted the female agent that went on the shopping trip for them behind the counter. And two other male agents sitting in booths eating frozen yogurt. Sam approached the counter. "I need to see Sarah and Carina. Carmichael has a mission for me and I need to see the team." Sam said softly so only Alex behind the counter could hear her.

"Do agents Walker and Henson know you are coming?" Alex asked with her hand one the red button under the counter.

"No, I was just given the green light twenty minutes ago and he said he'd call them when he get's out of a meeting with Fulcrum Command." Sam said looking around.

"Hold one minute please." Alex said punching a number into the register. She bent over the microphone. "Agent Walker. We have agent Glass here to talk to you." She said.

"Send her down." Came the reply.

Alex let her down into Castle and she was greeted by Sarah and Carina. "Hey Sam what are you doing here?" Carina asked looking at the two bags.

"Chuck just green lit me for my mission. Has he called you yet?" Sam asked dropping her two bags by the conference table, and taking a seat.

"What mission?" Sarah asked eyeing Sam with suspicion.

"He want's me to go on a special mission. I don't know what details I can share with you, but I can tell you I'm getting on the plane with Carina here and flying to D.C." She said.

"And you wouldn't be going to Washington to contact your sister right?" Sarah asked.

"No Ma'am, I am not." Sam said.

"As much as I'd like to believe you agent Glass. I don't. I have no idea what you're planning to do, but you're not getting on that plane." Sarah said with a note of finality in her voice.

"With all do respect agent Walker. What are you going to do to stop me?" Sam asked folding her arms.

"I can order you back to your apartment. As a senior member of this team I out rank you." Sarah said crossing her arms and matching Sam's look.

"I don't take orders form you. I'm not a member of this team. I work for Chuck. I take orders form Chuck. And I'm getting on that plane just as Chuck ordered me to." Sam said standing up and taking a step towards Sarah.

"Okay down Bitches!" Carina said getting between the two of them. "Sarah sit down on that side of the table, and Sam sit back down in that chair." Carina said pointing to the chairs. "Now Sam, when did Chuck give you this mission?"

"Last night at the shooting range." Sam said.

"Chuck took you to a shooting range?" Sarah asked looking confused. This was the first time she was hearing about this. She knew it was not part of the plan. Chuck was supposed to go to work every day and go back to his apartment every night. He was not supposed to go to shooting ranges.

"Yes, we had dinner last night and we got to talking about things we liked to do for fun. I said I used to like going to the range. He made a call to Roark and he let us use the Fulcrum range after hours." Sam said.

"So Chuck took you to this shooting range, is that all you two did last night?" Sarah asked.

"No he lost a bet and had to take me out for ice cream too." Sam said with a soft smile.

"Ice cream?" Carina asked.

"Yes it was very good. After that we went back to my place and he paid off the last of his debt." Sam said blushing.

Sarah saw red. "Did you sleep with my husband?" Sarah asked with a sharp edge to her voice.

"Yes. I did, and it was great." Sam said.

"I'll Kill You!" Sarah yelled as she shot out of her seat.

"How about Jordan?" Ted asked. He would hate to lose her but if this was important then sacrifices had to be made.

"She might be a good lay but she's too old to be good in the field any more, hell before you picked her up she was closing in on retirement. She's a good sex toy, very talented, but if she's your best then I'll have to go." Chuck said putting his feet on the desk.

"How about Melissa?" Ted asked.

"Are you kidding me? She's a whore that knows how to hold a gun. She a fucking call girl. I mean she has skill but again I don't think the files are in a bed somewhere, or in some guy's pants." Chuck said laughing. On the inside he was feeling even worse then he did before Roark showed up. But that was her cover. She was his sex toy, and they were going to use that to keep them underestimating her.

"Well how about Samantha Glass? She was one of the best agents in the whole CIA you know." Ted said.

"Is she up for this? Can you spare her? I thought she was always going on missions for you? That's what Melissa said anyway." Chuck asked sitting up.

"Well she just got back from a mission and she doesn't have anything lined up. I can assign her to you. She can be your man in the field so to speak." Ted said.

"If you think she can handle it then I will agree to stay and let her go." Chuck said holding out his hand.

"I know she's up for this. Do you want me to call her and let her know?" Ted asked shaking Chuck's hand.

"No I'll handle the briefing. It will establish a working relationship between us. If she has any questions as to who she's taking orders from I'll have her call you, but I hope that won't be necessary." Chuck said. Folding his hands on his desk.

"Good, so what are having her steal?" Ted asked.

"The original Intersect was built with no back up, but the programmers that made it backed up the data on what went into it and the programming code. They even stored some of the information from it. They took all of this information and broke it up into six files. They hid those files on six different computers around the country. The computer is in a CIA substation just outside of Washington D.C. in an old underground bunker. It has the files on the coding you're missing. If I get those files I can still reach my target goal of having it uploaded into someone's brain in three weeks. I'm hoping it's in that computer. If not she's going to have to hit another one." Chuck said.

"And where are the other computers?" Ted asked.

"Well they're all scattered around one's in upstate New York …"

"Sit back down." Carina said pushing Sarah back into her chair. "You two just slept right? No sex?" She asked Sam.

"No! I would never do something like that! I know he's married, and I know he's happy with that fact. We just slept." Sam said.

"I knew it. Sarah you have nothing to worry about. Chuck would never cheat on you willingly. I should know I've tried it and I got nothing." Carina said.

"Then what's with the blushing?" Sarah demanded.

"His last part of the bet was a foot massage." Sam said blushing so hard she looked purple.

"Okay you need to tell the whole story. We have time, and I want details. I've never seen you blush like that." Carina said smiling.

"Well like I said we went back to my place for the foot massage. He rubbed my feet while I talked. You know life story type stuff. When he was done with my feet he moved up to my calves. He's very good." Melissa said looking down and smiling.

"How good?" Carina asked.

"The best I ever had. He's got magic hands. So soft, and strong. Like him really. He was so nice to me. Pampered me for a good hour as I talked about my mother and Bobby. Growing up an agent. Even my hatred of The Enforcer. Sorry Sarah, but the truth is before I got kidnapped by Fulcrum you made me and a lot of other agents obsolete. I must say your search for me was very good. You where even in the same building as me a few times, but I couldn't let you know for fear of what they would do to Bobby." Sam said.

"How did you end up sleeping with him?" Sarah asked ignoring the other stuff. She knew she pissed off a lot of agents with her mission success rate, but what could she do about it? Suck more? Be less effective?

"I fell asleep during the massage. I woke up when he put me in bed. He helped me out of my pants, and when he was leaving I asked him to stay. He did. He held me as I slept. It was the best night's sleep I've gotten in years." Sam said.

Chuck was starting to run out of fake information, but Ted kept asking questions. He was about to ask another one when Jordan knocked on the door. "Ted your needed upstairs. The tech guy's have a butchers bill for the virus that hit the servers today." She said.

"How bad?" He asked walking her out the door.

"You know I have no idea what those guys are talking about." She said.

Ted's comment was cut off by the elevator doors closing. "My God I didn't think he'd ever leave." Melissa said walking into the lab and sitting in Chuck's lap.

"I know, I was running out of things to say. I need to call Sarah. Let her know to let Sam go with Carina. I know she's probably giving her a hard time and Sam's probably giving as good as she's getting." he said pulling out a burn phone. Me called Sarah's phone. She picked up on the first ring. "Chuck?" she asked.

"I love you." Chuck said.

"What?"

"I love you. I just wanted to get that in before anything else. I love you, and I miss you very much." Chuck said sadly.

"I love you too Chuck." She said softly.

"Now that that's out of the way your talking to agent Carmichael from here on out. Is Sam there?" He asked.

"Yes, she's sitting here telling us that you gave her a mission?" Sarah asked.

"That's right." Chuck said.

"That's Right!? That's all you have to say?" Sarah yelled.

"What should I say? I gave Sam a mission, what's the big deal? I'm not aloud to give out missions now? If my memory serves me right I seam to remember this whole plan being my idea. Have I been right so far?" Chuck asked angrily.

"How dare you question me like that! I'm mad because she walked in here telling us what to do and wouldn't share any of the details of her mission. A mission that you alone assigned to her without consulting me first. Then she says she only takes orders from you. Chuck I think the power is getting to your head." She said hotly

"Please put Carina on the phone Sarah?" Chuck asked softly.

"I don't think so Chuck. I think we're going to have a little talk about your behavior. I don't like your attitude at all. You're playing fast and lose out there. Taking Sam on a date, instead of staying back at the apartment where it's safe? Acting like you're the agent in charge of this team. This is your first mission Chuck, I think you need to tone that confidence down about ten notches when you speak to me! I'm the veteran, you're the rooky! I give missions orders, you follow mission orders! You're an asset for God's sake!" she yelled. Carina and Sam shared a shocked look between them. Melissa saw the look of hurt cross Chuck's face when she heard Sarah's words.

"Put Carina on the phone right know agent Walker." He said, his voice devoid of emotion, and deadly quiet.

Sarah looked at the phone like she had never seen it before. "Here, he want to talk to you." Sarah said looking like she was going to cry any second.

Carina took the phone. "Chuck?" She asked.

"Carina. I gave Sam a personal mission to do. She feels old, like she shouldn't be an agent anymore, I disagree. She still has what it take to be a great agent, but she has doubts. I want you to take her with you to D.C. she has a few places to go. She will be fine by herself. I want you two to stay in contact with each other at all times. If you think there's a way for her to talk to her sister without compromising the mission or putting your lives in danger I want you to do it. I trust your judgment Carina, and I trust hers. Keep each other safe out there. Now how mad is Sarah?" Chuck asked.

"I'm not sure. She looks more sad then mad." Carina said. "I think you should talk to her Chuck."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now Carina. I might slip up and say the wrong thing. The stress of this mission gets to me sometimes Carina. I've made some questionable decisions over the last week. I've done things a husband shouldn't do. I did them and the guilt is starting to get to me. I just can't deal with her feelings of jealousy right now. I just can't. Not when I'm hanging on by a thread emotionally as it is. She's right you know? I'm nothing more then an asset." Chuck said sadly.

"Hey no you're not! You're agent Carmichael. Get you shit together. You lose that confidence it could get you killed." Carina said waving at Sarah to get her to the phone, but she just ignored her and kept looking at her hands on the table.

"I don't feel very agent like right now." He said. Melissa hugged him close.

"You will. Trust me, every deep cover operative experiences that feeling. Are you sure you don't want to talk to her. I think she's going to crack here." Carina said.

"No. Can you tell them I will send the hard drive with the stolen data sometime tomorrow?" he asked feeling sick.

"Thanks Chuck, I'll tell them. Good bye Chuck." she said hanging up. Chuck pulled the battery out of the phone and tossed it on his desk. He dropped his head on Melissa's shoulder and sighed.

"I feel like total crap right now." Chuck said softly.

"Let's go home Chuck. You'll feel better if you take a shower and relax." She said running her hands through his hair.

"I can't, I have so much work to do. I have to go through all of the files, and flash on all of them. I have to see what we got today. This is going to really suck." Chuck said sadly. He figured he would have to flash on every file. That was at least five hundred flashes. The patch for Intersect 2.0 made these information flashes happen faster and with less pain but it still was going to hurt.

"Is the information stored on your laptop?" She asked.

"No it's stored on this passport drive." Chuck said pointing to the top drive in the tower.

"Then why do you have to do it here? Why can't we pack up everything you need and take it with us?" She asked looking him in the eyes with a confused look on her face.

"Um, that's a good question. I guess I could take it with me. But it's only 3PM. It's way too early to leave now." Chuck said.

"Please Chuck, what is Roark going to say? No? I don't think so. He just spent the last hour begging you not to go on a fake mission. I think you're in the clear with him. Lets go. You can take a shower and lay on the couch as you go through this stuff. I'll order us something good later for dinner. And when your all done going over the files you can take a nice soak in the tub." She said running her fingers through his hair.

"You know what? That sounds really good right now. Lets go." He said.

Carina looked at the phone in her hands after Chuck hug up. She shifted her gaze to Sarah and felt anger boil up in her gut. "You really are a dumb bitch you know that right?" She said tossing the phone back to Sarah.

"What?" Sarah asked looking at the phone.

"Do you even know what you said to him? Or were you so blinded by your loss of power that you just gave it to him with both barrels and didn't think about the words you said?" Carina asked standing up.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sarah said as tears pooled in her ice blue eyes.

"Sure you do. The man's on his first deep cover mission, and you tell him to tone down the confidence? You know confidence is the key to pulling off a mission like this and you go and break him like that? Have you lost your fucking mind? Do you want to get him killed? Sam when you first met him did you believe he was a veteran deep cover operative?" Carina asked.

"Yes." Sam said without hesitation.

"And you found out yesterday that this is his first mission?" Carina asked.

"I did ." Sam nodded.

"At any point after finding out this was his first mission did you detect anything in the way he acted that tipped you off to that fact?" Carina asked.

"No. He acts and sounds like a man that's been doing this for years." Sam said understanding what Carina was doing.

"Well the man I just talked to sounded like a wounded puppy. It was pathetic. I'd be surprised if his cover wasn't blown by now. He sounded like a scared asset. I want to congratulate you Sarah, you broke his confidence. He was fine before you talked to him. You wanted to assert your dominance over him and you did. Good job." Carina said giving Sarah a thumbs up.

"Don't say that." Sarah growled. Flying out of her seat, and getting in Carina's face.

"There she is, The Enforcer. You going to assert your dominance over me to? You going to try to pull rank over me now? I'm not Chuck, I'm not on my first mission. You're not going to scare me." Carina said with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"I did not pull rank on him! I was trying to remind him that it's dangerous out there and I'm not there to save his life when he screws up." She said and she instantly felt sick. Did she just tell him that? Did she tell him she didn't trust him? Is that what she said? Is that what he heard? Was he mad at her for doubting him? Was he mad that she made him doubt himself. She lost her battle with the tears in her eyes. Carina sighed, and pulled her into a hug.

"You messed up. He'll forgive you. He's Chuck after all. He's nothing if not forgiving. You need to think about the things you said to him. The next time he calls you need to tell him your sorry for saying what you did. Now we have a plane to catch." Carina said waving Sam towards the door.


	17. Chapter 17

Chuck laid on the couch whit his head on the arm rest. Melissa laid on top of him holding the laptop. On the screen was a list of files and a picture of a warehouse. Melissa looked at Chuck and waited for his eyes to stop twitching. Chuck shook his head and blinked. "Good or bad?" She asked.

"Good, that warehouse is a supply depot in Boston. Run the search for anything related to 127 N. Greenview street." Chuck said rubbing his eyes. The search came back with three personal files and a list of shipments to and from the depot. "Alright, those three guys run that supply house. Make a new file called Boston supply depot and put those files in it." Chuck said. They had been at this for the last four hours now. Melissa opened up a file, showed it to Chuck, he flashed on it and told her what to do next. So far they had covered two thirds of the files and every file had files related to the one they first opened. Chuck had Melissa make a new file on a second passport drive and move the files there. He was organizing all of the data in to mission files. Each one had a location, information about that location, valuable objectives at that location, and possible targets at the location. So far they had over fifty mission files like that.

Melissa created the supply depot mission file and looked at Chuck. "How are you doing? How's your head feeling?" She asked softly. She was starting to really worry about him. They got to the apartment at half past three. Chuck handed the car keys to the doorman with out telling him anything at all, which funny enough scared the poor man worse then the things Chuck had told him in the past three days. He drooped his bag on the couch and stripped off all of his clothes on the way to the master bathroom. He turned on the hot water and stood under the shower head until he heard a knock on the door. It was Melissa telling him she put clothes on the bed for him, and a drink on the nightstand. When he got out of the shower he saw a pair of jeans and a black long sleeved shirt on the bed for him, and a tumbler of Scotch on the bedside table. Chuck took the glass and drained a third of it wincing. He got dressed and walked out into the living room. Melissa had changed into a pair of jeans and a green sweater. She was sitting on the couch drinking a glass of red wine.

But they had been at it for four hours straight now and she lost count of how many times he flashed so far today. Add to that his little unconscious episode this afternoon and she was sure he was overtaxing his brain.

"I'm good. What's next?" Chuck asked. Rolling his neck.

"What's next is dinner Chuck, it's almost eight." She said putting the computer down on the coffee table as she stood up. "Come on Chuck." She said helping him sit up. "What do you want for diner?" She asked picking up the menu off the kitchen counter.

"I don't know. What do you want?" He asked trying to get the feeling back in his legs.

"Well they have all kinds of things on here. Let's see, they have all the good stuff. Oh they have roasted Greek chicken! How's that sound?" She asked picking up the phone.

"Good." He said walking over to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.

Melissa put in the order. "He said they would be up with it in twenty minutes. What do you want to do until then?" She asked.

"Work?" He asked going back to the couch.

"No! You need to take a break. No more work till after dinner." She said making a pouty face.

"Fine. There was one thing I wanted to do though, I've been thinking about it for a couple of days now." he said docking his iPod in the Bose sound system. He flicked through his play lists till he found what he was looking for. When he turned back to her, an up beat Spanish guitar began playing. "May I have this Tango?" He asked in a sexy voice as he pined her with his wolfish grin.

"You're sure as hell can!" She said walking up to him. He took her in his arms and lead her through a very heated Argentine tango in the open space by the windows.

When the song ended he dipped her. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. Unlike the kisses they shared before this one was different. It was slow and passionate. Chuck brought her back up and wrapped his arms around her still locked in the kiss. When she broke the kiss she looked deep in his eyes. "No matter what she said your not an asset, or a rooky agent. You don't need a babysitter. You're an agent. Full Stop. You're confident, and you're strong. Smart and cool. You're every bit as good as she is and that scares her. You don't need her to watch you like a small child. You're a man of action now. Tell me Chuck, who came up with this plan?" She asked holding his gaze.

"I did." Chuck said softly.

"And who, made a pin point shot that save his partners life?" She asked.

"I did." Chuck said. His voice gaining confidence.

"And who walked into Ted Roark's house and threatened to kill every last person in the building?" She asked with a smile.

"I did." Chuck said smirking.

"And who made the head of Fulcrum hand over one of his best agents for a fake mission?" She asked.

"I did." Chuck said standing up straighter.

"And who had me so hot I came four times in five minutes?" She asked bushing.

"I did." Chuck said with a blushing smirk.

"And who the hell are you?" She asked.

"Chuck." He said with a shrug.

"You are a hell of a lot more then just Chuck! Who The Hell Are You!?" She said giving him a challenging stare.

"Charles Carmichael." Chuck said looking away.

"WHO!?" She said pushing away from him angrily.

"Chares Carmichael!" He said turning to her with his agent mask in place.

"That's right! You're Charles Fucking Carmichael! You run this shit! You're a stone cold BAMF! You're tall, sexy, and mysterious! You're every woman's wet dream! And the envy of half the intelligence agents in the world! You're smart as a computer! You're deadly as a pit viper! And you fuck like a tiger! You don't take anything that bitch said to heart. What the fuck does she know? Did she see you with that extraction team? Did she see you storm this building like an avenging Angel? Or shoot those three trigger happy guards in front of RI? No she didn't. Yet she wants to tell you what to do? She wants to pull rank on you? I don't think so! And neither should you. I think I know what I'm doing tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to get you frozen yogurt for lunch. And I think I'll bring security footage with me when I go. I think she needs to start respecting you." Melissa said.

"Your right I think, but I don't think she meant to go off on me like that. I think she's just under a lot of stress because I'm here and she's stuck there. I know if the situation was reversed I'd be freaked out. Especially if I knew she was spending time with the male equivalent of you." Chuck said holding her close.

"You know you don't have to butter me up to get me naked." She said pushing him away with a laugh.

"First of all I've seen you naked way too many times already, but I'm not buttering you up. I really needed that you know? I needed to hear that stuff. I've been doubting myself ever since that phone call. She really hit a nerve with the things she said. She's my source of confidence. It hit home that she thinks I can't pull this stuff off. It hurt to hear her not trust me." Chuck said.

"I think she needs to see it first hand. I think I need to have Jordan pull the security footage and burn it to a DVD for me. I'll take it over to her tomorrow. For the record I think you're right, she's just stressed out." Melissa said sitting them down at the table.

"Then what was all that other stuff about?" He asked confused.

"That was to get your head back in the game. Let's face facts here. You were a mess after that call. You've been working through those files like a mindless drone. You slipped into old Chuck mode. You had no confidence. You sat slumped over, and when I laid on you, you had no idea where to put your hands. You got all flustered, and nervous. New Chuck would have pulled me down onto the couch and held me close. He would have made a joke about how pretty the Melissa blanket is. He would have wrapped his arms around me because he knows how much I like that. He would have made jokes about the never ending list of files, or commented on the fact that he flashed enough to be charged with public indecency, or the fact that Fulcrum is pretty much a sausage house full of ugly dudes. I needed to break through to you. I needed to pull you out of the gloom and doom. You were starting to bring me down Chuck. It was depressing to see you go from the Chuck I know to the Chuck of old. You really were a mopey, whiney kind of guy weren't you?" She asked pouring him a glass of red wine.

"I guess so. I mean I wouldn't put it that way." Chuck said smiling.

"And how would you put it?" She asked going to answer the door. She pushed the cart to the table and Chuck put the plates on the table.

"I'd say deep, yeah I was supper deep." He said laughing.

"Well I call that moping. Now eat up, I want to get to bed early tonight. I'm tired as hell. I did not sleep well last night." She said eating the best roasted chicken she ever had in her life.

"Why didn't you sleep well last night? I would think you would have slept better last night, I wasn't in bed with you groping your chest." He said.

"Actually the opposite is true. I've never had a better nights sleep then when I'm with you." She said with a blush.

"Oh really?" Chuck asked whit a raised eyebrow.

"Really, you have no idea how good it is to sleep with you. It's warm, and comforting. I must say this is the best relationship I've ever been in. you're emotionally supportive, comforting, and sexually gratifying. And all I have to do is give you a hug when you need it and lay out your suit in the morning. Will you marry me Chuck?" She asked laughing.

"Sorry, I'm off the market, but if I wasn't I would jump at the chance to be with someone as special as you." Chuck said with a sad smile.

"Well if things ever fall apart with Sarah I'd be more then happy to take you up on that." Melissa said smiling, but the truth was she was going to have a little talk with Walker tomorrow. If she ever said some shit like she did today the gloves were coming off. He was just too good to be wasted on a woman that didn't treat him like he dissevered to be treated.

"You'll be the first to know. Well if Jordan's not available that is. It turns out me and her had wild sex in my office today. When she came in to get Roark I saw bite marks on her neck. I must be some kind of wild beast when it comes to sex." Chuck said laughing.

Melissa blushed bright red. "She needed to look like she went ten rounds with you. I had to mark her up a bit. You tend to leave your mark on a lady." She said pulling her shirt collar down to show the red bite make on her shoulder.

Chuck looked at the mark and didn't know what to feel. On one hand he was looking at the evidence of his infidelity. On the other hand he felt a sense of pride. He shook his head and gave Melissa a sad smile as he took a drink from his wine glass. "So what do you say to finishing off those files tonight?" Chuck asked awkwardly.

"Okay, but I'm concerned about you flashing so much. You've done it about a thousand times already and we're only 2/3 of the way done." She said holding his hand.

"I'm good, I can keep going. I'll take a few aspirins before we start up again." Chuck said rolling his neck.

"Okay, but if I think your pushing yourself too hard I'm calling this off. I don't want you to end up in a coma or something." She said softly.

"If it gets too painful I'll stop for the night. I can finish it later." Chuck said putting his plate on the room service cart.

"Do you want a refill?" Melissa asked holding up the half empty bottle of red wine.

"Sure." Chuck said holding up his glass as he sat down on the couch.

Melissa refilled his glass and put the bottle on the coffee table. She retook her seat in his lap and handed him two aspirins. She picked up the laptop, and leaned back so he could see the screen. "So on to the next file." She said opening up the top file in the list. The file had a bunch of PDF documents. As she flipped through them Chuck flashed on all of them in rapid secession.

"OH. That hurt!" Chuck said grabbing his head.

"What is it Chuck? Are you okay?" She asked turning around to look at him.

"That's a list of all of Fulcrum banking records. Account numbers and pass codes are in a file marked R and D business expenses. You should find it in the accounting files." Chuck said rubbing his palms over his eyes. Melissa pulled up a search bar and typed in the things he said. She found the five flies relating to the accounting records. She moved them all into a file marked accounting on the second passport drive and opened the next file. Inside the file was a list of vin numbers. Chuck gowned. "A master list of every vehicle owned by Fulcrum. My BMW is number 86 on that list and your new Aston is number 213. With that list we can get the GPS codes for all of those cars and track them. Try looking for anything else transportation related." Chuck said pushing the pain in his head out of his thoughts. He felt his jaw clinch as a list with numbers popped up. "Oh. Gulfstream!" Chuck gasped out in pain. The list contained the hanger numbers and locations for the three G6 jets, ten Blackhawk helicopters, two harriers, and the black market stolen USAF B-1 Lancer sitting in a hanger in Mexico. "Try, searching for heavy weapons, and air to ground ordinance packages." Chuck said holding his breath and prying he was wrong. The search came back with a file marked White Out Protocol. Chuck felt sick to his stomach. The plan outlined the mission parameters for a nuclear air strike on US soil. The color drained from Melissa's face as she read the first few lines.

"Chuck is this what I think it is?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"If you think it's a mission brief outlining the possible US targets for nuclear air strike then yes it is." He said softly pulling her closer.

"He wouldn't do that right? I mean trying to bring down the government is one thing but Chuck, this is a list of Cities. US Cities!" She said shaking.

"It's worse then that. It's a list of cities and a detailed casualty estimation. It also talks about the merits of Chicago vs. New York and L.A." Chuck said lifting the computer off of her lap so she could run to the bathroom. He set the laptop down and got to the bathroom just as she started reliving diner. Chuck grabbed her hair and held her head as she retched. "You okay?" He asked as she fell back into his arms.

"Chicago?" She asked softly.

"It's an unpredictable target, and it has major strategic value." Chuck quoted from the report.

"That SON OF A BITCH! My City!? He wants to nuke MY City! I'll kill him!" She said trying to stand up.

"Melissa! Calm down! Breath! Think about it, he's not going to use that plan to bring the country down if he thinks he's getting an Intersect. He's smart enough to know the value of going with something small over something large scale." Chuck said.

"Your right, but he's got Nukes! We have to repot that!" She said standing up.

"You will, tomorrow. When you take one of the passport drives to Sarah at Castle. Tell her what we found and have her make a call to the President." Chuck said handing her a loaded tooth brush.

"Thanks." She said walking over to the sink.

"I'll organize the files in a folder marked NUKES. Come out when your done. We've got a lot of files to go through still." He said walking out of the bathroom.

Chuck moved the files onto the other passport drive and opened up the next file. This on was a file marked Roark Industries. It had the records of Fulcrum agents on the payroll at RI. It also had an off shoot file called Fulcrum NOC Operatives. Chuck knew what NOC stood for. Non-Official Cover operatives. It was Sarah's title. As well as a title held by both Jordan and Sam when they worked for their respective agencies. It meant you where not on the books. You had no safety net as far as being caught by the enemy. If you where caught spying the Government would disavow you. They would act like they never heard of you. It was spying at the very highest level. The truest practitioners of the game. Chuck clicked the file and found three folders labeled with agents code names. Chuck clicked the first one and flashed on the agent's picture. Steve Colson. A sixteen year veteran of the CIA. He was an annalist pit manager. He oversaw the analysts that worked on all of the top secret missions. He was basically feeding Ted Roark a copy of all of the top secret mission briefs. Melissa sat down next to him on the couch.

"What do we have here?" She asked looking at the picture.

"I have Fulcrum's NOC list. This is the first of three names. He's a spy in the top secret analyst pit." Chuck said showing her the picture.

"He doesn't look like much." She said looking at the laptop.

"He's a paper pusher. How tough do you have to be to copy files and send them to your secret boss?" Chuck said sarcastically.

"Good point." She said nodding.

Chuck opened the next file and was hit with a massive flash. Ron Pierson, was a twenty year veteran of the Secret Service. He spent most of his years on the PPD, or the President's Protection Detail. He was a three time recipient of the Secret Service medal of honor and personally took a stray bullet for President Gorge W. Bush. He was also a Fulcrum sleeper agent assigned to kill the president when the order was given. For any other person, killing the President would be next to impossible, but for a guy that spent most of his day standing three feet from him with a loaded gun it was very easy. "I thought they checked for bad guys in the Secret Service all the time?" Melissa asked reading the file as Chuck flashed.

"They do, but I don't think they checked Ron here for a while. He's too much of a trusted agent. He has three medals for honorable service." Chuck said as he moved the file.

Chuck opened the last file and flashed so hard he felt every muscle in his body tense up and his eyes rolled back in his head. "God Damn It That Hurt!" Chuck said holding his head in his hands.

"Chuck are you okay?" Melissa asked taking his head in her hands and looking in his eyes.

"I'm fine." Chuck said confidently. He felt something tickle his nose and when he touched his nose he saw blood on his fingers.

"Oh yeah Chuck, you're fine alright. Your nose is bleeding." She said grabbing a tissue from the box on the coffee table and held it to his nose to stop the blood from dripping on him. "I think we're going to call it a night." She said walking him to the bathroom.

"I'm fine, I can keep going. I have to finish." Chuck said as the blood stopped dripping from the tip of his nose.

"You need to stop now before you give yourself an aneurism!"

Chuck tried to stand up and got light headed. Melissa handed him some toilet paper and helped him sit on the edge of the huge bath tub.

"I flashed on the last name in the file. It's the deputy director of the NSA. I need to keep looking through the files. They need this stuff at Castle! I have to keep working." Chuck said trying to stand up.

Melissa pushed him back down. "Chuck if you try to go back to that laptop again I'm going to hurt you. Now I'm not kidding. You can not flash again tonight. You already gave yourself a bloody nose. If you don't stop now you're going to kill yourself!" Melissa yelled as tears slid down her face. Chuck took one look at her, and slump back down.

"Fine. No more tonight. But I need to finish this. I have to move the files on the NOC's to the other drive. I have to back up. I need to…"

"You need to strip and sit in this bath from a couple of hours." Melissa said pulling his shirt over his head. "I'll handle the last file, and back up the new list on the three drives." She said turning on the hot water. Before she left the room.

Chuck shed the rest of his clothes and slipped into the steaming hot water. He turned on most of the jets and relaxed his head back on the leather pillow. In seconds he fell asleep. He woke up slowly to the feeling of someone massaging his temples. "Ah. That feels so good." Chuck said. When he opened his eyes he saw Melissa, naked, and kneeing in the tub between his legs. "AHH! Your naked!" He said closing his eyes.

"Chuck I think we're passed the shock value of my boobs. Besides it's not like I'm totally naked." She said sitting up in the water showing Chuck her green thong. "I'm as dressed as I would be on a beach in the south of France. Now sit up for a minute." She said pulling him forward by his arms. When he was away from the walls of the tub she took his vacated seat and pulled him back against her chest. She laid his head on her chest and went back to massaging his temples. Chuck sighed and he couldn't keep his eyes from rolling back in his head. He was asleep in seconds. Melissa held him to her chest and ran her fingers through his hair for the next hour. When the clock on the wall stereo read 10PM she softly shook him awake. "Come on Chuck it's time for bed." She said helping him sit up. She got out of the tub and got the two robes off the door. She put one on and helped Chuck out of the tub and into the other robe. "Why don't you brush your teeth and finish drying off and I'll get you some boxers and a shirt for bed." She said walking out the door. Chuck brushed his teeth and when he looked at his reflextion in the mirror he saw how dead he looked. His skin looked gray and his shoulders were slumped, but the worst part about his appearance was his eyes. He must have popped a blood vessel during that last flash because his left eye was all blood shot. Melissa walked in to the bathroom wearing a pair of gray boy shorts and the white tee-shirt she took from him last night. She handed him the boxers and shirt she brought with her and crossed to the blow dryer.

Ten minutes later Chuck put his gun on the nightstand and slipped into bed beside Melissa. "Good night Chuck." She said rolling into to him and sighing when his arm closed around her.

"Good night Melissa." He said kissing the top of her head. He drifted off to sleep thinking about the files still left to go through.

Chuck heard a sound like someone coughing. He took stock in his surroundings like Sarah thought him. But that just made him more confused. He was laying on a couch. Light was streaming through a window to his left and he smelled citronella, and old spice. He heard the cough again and knew he was being watched. He was at a disadvantage. He was unarmed, in a place he didn't know and someone had the drop on him. He heard an exasperated throat clearing. "Oh come on Charles! I know you're awake. Sit up so we can talk, I don't have much time."

Chuck flew off the couch. He knew that voice anywhere. It was his dad! His eye adjusted to the light in the room and saw he was standing in the living room of his childhood home. He turned around and saw his dad sitting in his arm chair looking not a day older then when he last saw him almost twenty years ago. His brain was screaming at him. 'How is that possible' he looked at his dad and didn't know what to do. But he did know one thing, something wasn't right.

"Of course something's not right Charles. I'm still thirty eight years old. That's got to tell you something. Think son, why would I look like this? Why are we in this house? Why are you wearing a three thousand dollar suit?" His dad asked with an ironic smile.

Chuck's mind went into over drive when he looked down and saw he was indeed wearing his black Armani suit. He thought about everything his dad said and he could only come up with one answer. He was dreaming. The fact that his dream was trying to tell he was, in fact, dreaming made this one of the weirdest dreams in his life. "Okay dad, what can I do for you?" Chuck asked taking a seat on the couch across from his dad.

"Well I'm not really your dad Charles. I'm the manifestation of a file you downloaded today that's trying to work it's way into your conscious thoughts with out flashing." His dad said.

"What file?" Chuck asked.

"It's a file labeled: Project Prometheus." His dad said, and Chuck had the mother of all flashes.

Project Prometheus was a project that was funded by the government, and worked on by three computer engineering geniuses back in 1976. They worked out of a lab in Burbank and they reported to a high ranking CIA operative in charge of security by the name of Mary Frost. The project was to create a computer that could store information in a way that could later be downloaded into the human brain.

The three engineers were named Chet Forester, Ted Roark, and Steven Bartowski. The project would later be re-titled the Intersect because it was where all information got processed and stored. By 1980 the project was scrapped because of budget cuts. Or at least that's what Chet and Steven were told. Mary Bartowski, she married Steven in May of 1977 after finding out she was pregnant with Ellie, was given the option of reassignment or early retirement. She took maternity leave with the option to work as an analyst in the future. Ted stayed on and created the first working Intersect with a new team, but no mater what they tried they couldn't get it into someone's brain. In the summer of 1988 Ted approached Steven about his problem. Needing the extra cash to pay for a bigger house for his two growing kids Steven took the job of working on the Download process. He worked from home. In September of 1989 Marry Bartowski left on a mission and never came home. Because his attention was divided between work and taking care of his kids his work took a big hit. Over the next six years he made very little progress. Then in 1994 he made a break through. He successfully downloaded a test flash into his son's brain by accident. When he reported this to Ted, and a CIA contact friend of his. Ted freaked out and kidnapped Steven. As it turned out Ted wasn't totally honest with Steven. The CIA had no idea Steven was working on the project at all. In 1995 Steven Was killed trying to escape his Fulcrum prison cell. Since then Ted had tried to complete the work Steven started. And now he was trying to use Steven's son to fix his Intersect problem. "Small world wouldn't you say son?" Steven asked with a laugh.

"So all those years ago when you went out to get supplies to make pancakes you were kidnapped?" Chuck asked softly.

"Yes." Steven said.

"And mom was an agent?" Chuck asked with a small smile.

"Yes, we Bartowski men do seam to have a type don't we?" Steven said laughing hysterically.

"That we do. What ever happened to mom?" Chuck asked.

"Charles, we both know I can't answer that question. I'm not real son. I'm a manifestation of your subconscious mind trying to get you to flash on a file. That's all I am son. I don't have any more information than you do. I can't help you with that one son. I can tell you that you got most of the relevant information out of the files you took today. There are only a few files that are left with anything good in them. The file names are: Human Resources/ staff/ special teams, and security/ Roark Industries/ emergence protocols. The first one is a list of all Fulcrum agents you didn't pull out already, and the second file has the lock down codes for RI. Now Chuck you're going to wake up in a few seconds. I want you to think about what your about to do before you do it. Think about the consequences. You can never undo what you're about to do." Steven said with a sad look on his face. Chuck blinked twice and the room faded. It was replaced with Melissa's head. He rolled out of bed very carefully. He grabbed the pair of jeans off the chair in the corner and walked out of the room. He walked to his tactical bag and pulled out his tactical vest. He pulled his jeans on and flipped the vest over his head and pulled the straps tight. He pulled eight MP5 mags and put them in the pouches on the vest. He did the same with six Sig 229 mags. He slung his MP5-SD6 over his head and attached the sling mount to his vest. He pulled the spare Sig229 from the bag an slipped it in the holster on the vest. He was half way to the door, "Your not going to take your side arm Chuck?" Melissa asked. Chuck turned around and saw her standing in the doorway holding his Sig 229.

"I've got the secondary one on me." Chuck said refusing to meet her eyes.

"But this one has been so good to you over the last few days. You're going to chance your suicide mission on an untested gun?" She asked sardonically.

"I was hoping to not need my sidearm. I wasn't planning to run out." Chuck said patting his vest full of mags.

"And who are you going to kill Chuck? Who has you up in the middle of the night loaded down with a few hundred rounds of ammo? Who are you going to kill Chuck?" She asked softy.

"Ted Roark." He said in a voice devoid of life.

"Okay." She said walking over to the tactical bag and pulling out the second vest. Chuck stared at her as she put Glock mags in the pouches. She put one Glock19 in the Sherpa on the vest and pulled her Glock out of her purse and stood by the door. She looked back at Chuck. "Well are you coming or not?" She asked waving at the door with her gun.

Chuck didn't know if it was the stress of the situation or the fact that Melissa was locked and loaded from the waist up and practically naked from the waist down. Chuck stated laughing. He laughed so hard he cried. He dropped onto the couch laughing and crying. Melissa sat next to him and pulled him into a hug. She held him as the laughing died out, but the crying got harder. She held him as he threw his arms around her and buried his head in her hair. As the sobs rocked his body she rubbed his back and told him it was all going to be okay. When the sobs stopped she kissed him on the cheek. "Now why were we going to kill Roark?" She asked.

"Because he kidnapped and killed my father." Chuck said softy.

"When?" She asked in shock.

"In July of 1995." Chuck said.

"When did you find this out?" She asked.

"I had this dream. It was my subconscious flashing while I slept." Chuck told about the dream he had. "And he told me to think about what I was going to do. I didn't know what he meant but now I do. He knew I was going to wake up and go kill Roark."

"Well yeah he knew what you were going to do. He's your subconscious. He knew before you did. He also knew there was no going back after that. What am I saying he for? You knew Chuck. He is you after all. Now lets get out of these vests and go back to bed it's only… holly crap it's 4AM Chuck! Get your ass back in that bed right now!" She said pointing at the bedroom door.

"I can't. I'm too keyed up to go back to sleep. I was seconds away from killing a man. I think I need to think that through. Here," Chuck said pulling open the straps of her vest. "I'll take care of this." He said putting the vest on the table.

"Okay, but you promises you're not going to try killing anyone while I sleep." She said looking Chuck in the eye.

"I promises. I'm just going to clean these and think. Maybe I'll hit the gym, and work off some of this energy." Chuck said pulling his vest off. And setting it next to hers.

"Okay. I'll see you in a few hours. Remember I'm going to work with you today. We'll take my car." She said standing up and kissing the top of his head.

"Melissa," Chuck said as she walked passed him to go back to bed. She stopped and turned to look at him. "Thank you for, you know." He said looking at his hands.

"I know. I love you Chuck. You never have to thank me for looking out for you. Never." She said softy.

"I love you too." He said standing up and pulling her into a hug. "You were here for me when I needed it the most and I'll never be able to repay you for it." He said.

"A wise man once told me that friends hold you when you need to be held. You never have to repay me for anything." She said giving him a quick kiss before she headed into the bedroom.

Chuck smiled at her. He was so very glad to have met her. He was not sure if he would even be alive right now if it wasn't for her. He owed her his life many times over and he needed to find a way to pay her back. To make it up to her. He didn't care what she said. He knew he owed her too much to just leave the scales unbalanced he thought as he laid out the cleaning supplies. He thought about what she told him she wanted. She wanted to be on a real mission, and they were. He thought as he field stripped his MP5 and ran a cleaning rod through it. Chuck thought about all of the conversations they had and he knew what she really wanted.

She wanted Charles Carmichael. Well she thought she did. What she really wanted was to make the cover they were living real. He couldn't give her that but he could give her something else. He thought about the things she said over dinner. About this being the best relationship she ever had. No he couldn't give her Charles Carmichael, but who was Charles Carmichael? He was Chuck with spy skills and confidence wrapped in Armani. A smile formed on his face. If he couldn't give her Charles Carmichael, then he would give her Charles' brother William Carmichael. Now all he had to do was find the perfect candidate. Chuck smiled as he finished cleaning Melissa's Glock19. He put away all of the guns and grabbed some sweats from the dresser making sure not to wake Melissa up. He changed into the sweats and ran down the stairs.

When he got to the lobby he followed the signs and found the gym. It didn't look very big, but when you stepped through the doors you saw it was huge. There were about thirty different exercise machines. There was a section of the floor that had soft mats for sparing and three weight benches. He saw someone was in the gym already. He walked up to the woman running on one of the treadmills and saw it was Jordan. She was running at a fast steady pace and she didn't look winded or even out of breath. To proving him right she turned to him and smiled. "Care to join me Charles?" She asked, her voice stead and even.

"Sure, why not?" He said hopping on the treadmill next to hers. He started out at an easy jog. "You been here long?" He asked.

"No, only about ten minutes. I've got anther eight and a half miles to go yet." She said picking up the pace. Chuck knew a challenge when he saw one and bumped his speed up to a slow run. "So you're up early. Why?" She asked.

"Couldn't sleep." Chuck said looking around for a camera.

"You can talk here. There are no cameras in this room. I made sure of that. This is my one thing I get to do for me every day. Ted doesn't get to see this." She said upping the speed.

"I found out Roark killed my father. I was all geared up to go on a killing spree when Melissa talked me out of it." Chuck said upping the speed to a good running pace.

"When did this happen?" She asked.

"When did what happen?" Chuck asked.

"When did he kill your father?" She asked looking at him with sympathy.

"About fifteen years ago. I found a file detailing the whole thing." Chuck said breathing heavy.

"I'm so sorry for you Chuck. But she's right you know? Killing him now wont do anything but get a bunch of us killed." Jordan said upping the speed one last time to a full sprint.

"I know. She's almost always right. I just follow her orders now." Chuck said with a laugh that sounded more like a wezz.

"You're a smart man. It usually takes longer to train a man to listen." She said laughing at his red face and labored breathing. "Why don't you slow down over there Chuck. You look winded." She said.

"How the hell can you do this?" He said slowing down to a slow jog.

"I run ten miles a day Chuck. I have since Boot camp. It's keeps me a lean, mean, fighting machine." She said slowing down to a fast run.

"As a guy I know I'm not supposed to ask this, but how old are you?" Chuck asked smiling on the inside. He was really starting to get good at this stuff.

"I don't mind. I'm 40." She said picking up two small ten pound weights. She started to do mini curls as she ran.

"No way in hell are you 40!" Chuck said.

"I am. I have a son that's seven years younger then you." She said smiling.

"I would have said 32 at the most, and you're out running a 27 year old right now." Chuck said sweating hard.

"That has a lot to do with my workout routine, and my diet. Until I was forced to work for the devil I was a good agent you know. I hope I can still be as good as I once was. I haven't been on a real mission in so long. I don't know if I still have my edge. I used to be the sharp tip of the spear, now I don't know if I still have it." She said sadly.

"Well why don't we see? How about I send you on a mission? You know I can clear it with Roark. The man begged me just yesterday to take Sam off his evil little hands. She's right now in D.C. hopefully she gets a chance to talk to her sister." Chuck said turning the speed all the way down to a slow walk.

"And what would this mission be?" She asked casually, but Chuck could see the light in her eyes.

"Well first of all you're going to have to prove to me you still can handle yourself. I hear you're quite the kick boxer?" Chuck asked smirking.

"You could say that." She said matching his smirk. Oh she was good alright. She had a 30-0 record in boot camp.

"Well how about a little sparing?" Chuck asked.

"I'm up for it. The first one to three knock downs?" She asked slowing the treadmill down to match his slow pace.

"Sound fair to me." Chuck said, and by the way her smile became predatory he knew this was going to hurt. Ten minutes later when she connected with a roundhouse kick that sent him flying six feet through the air. He had a moment of feeling like an idiot before he hit the ground and the wind was knocked out of him. When he stood back up he saw her still bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"That's one Chucky!" She said

"What is it with the play on my name? First Sam and now you?" He asked as he stood up. They touched gloves and bounced back. Jordan threw a few jabs to test his defense, but Chuck wasn't buying that again. Chuck tried faking a kick and throwing a jab, but she saw right through it and connected with a right hook that put Chuck on his ass again. Chuck blinked the stars out of his eyes. Even with the head guard on it still hurt like hell. He knew one thing for sure, he never wanted to feel that punch without the head gear on.

"That's two Chucky! Come on, you're not going to let an old lady kick your ass are you?" She asked with a smirk.

"Old lady my ass! I want proof you're 40! A birth certificate, or a drivers license! Something, because there's no way you're that old! Are you hustling me?" He asked sitting up holding his head.

"In order for me to hustle you there has to be something at stake. A bet. Therefore I'm not hustling you, I'm just kicking your ass. See the difference?" She asked pulling him up.

"What if there was something at stake?" Chuck asked.

"Like what?" she asked.

"You name it. Anything you want." Chuck said circling her.

"Anything?" She asked tagging him in the chest with a left jab.

"Anything in my power to give you." Chuck said dropping back to lick his wounds.

"Okay. I want whatever you gave to Sam. She was glowing when I saw her yesterday. I want that." Jordan said throwing a kick and catching Chuck in the butt.

"OUCH!" Chuck said grabbing his ass and back tracking to ovoid her three punch combo. "I took her out for ice cream and I gave her a foot massage." Chuck said ducking a kick and trying for a leg sweep.

"That's it?" She asked hopping over his leg sweep.

"Well I did sleep with her." Chuck tossed out and used the shock of his declaration to land a kick to the ribs putting Jordan on her ass for the first time.

"You slept with her?" She asked sitting up.

"Yes, and I do mean slept as in sleep, not sex." Chuck said

"Well I'll take all that plus dinner." She said.

"You got a deal." Chuck said. Tossing a combo of kicks at her. She caught his left foot and punched him in the thigh as she swept his other leg out from under him. What she didn't expect was his latching onto the arm holding his foot. When he went down he brought her with him. She landed on top of him and ended up head butting him by accident. "ouch!" He said.

"Right back at you stud." She said holding her head. She looked down and saw she was laying on top of him. She smirked and looked at him. "It's nice to know you let the woman be on top every once in a while Charles." She said running her gloved hand up his chest.

"I always take care of my partner." He said looking her dead in the eyes and trailing his hand up her spine. She shuddered and Chuck used that distraction to roll them over. He pinned her hands above her head and gave her a wolfish grin. He leaned in for a kiss and when she closed her eyes in anticipation he kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear. "Remember Jordan, you might be able to kick my ass, but you know what I can do to you if I really wanted to. You think what Melissa did to you yesterday was good? You have no idea what good is until I've worshiped your body. I can make you cum so hard. Jordan if I wanted to I could fuck you till you pass out from the ecstasy." He said licking her earlobe before he blew softly on the wet flesh. She stiffened and shuddered.

"Please Chuck. It's been so long since I've been taken care of. I need it so bad. I'll do anything for it. Please?" She begged panting.

"I can't, but I'll make you a deal. If we get out of this alive I'll make sure you're taken care of. That you're worshiped like you deserve to be. I look out for my girls Jordan. I always will. Until then I can give you this." He said pulling his gloves off and running his hand over her ribs as he kissed her neck. He saw the bite mark and had to hand it to Melissa, she did know his game very well. He licked the bite mark on the pulse point and she shuddered. He ran his left hand up her inner right thigh and she convulsed. Chuck kissed her hungrily sucking on her bottom lip. She gasped for breath, and as she did he ran his hand over the crotch of her yoga pants, bit her bottom lip, and cupped her left breast. She climaxed with a grunt and flexed every muscle in her toned body. Chuck smiled and kissed her cheek softly. "I promise you will be worshiped like you deserve Jordan. Like a woman of you caliber should be. You're like a fine wine Jordan, aged to perfection and well worth the wait. I'll see you at work later my sweet." He said rolling to his feet and walking away.

Jordan laid on that mat for a good ten minutes trying to catch her breath. "My god he's good." She said smiling.


	18. Chapter 18

Chuck walked into the apartment and opened up the laptop. He finished the files and saved. He triple backed up. He looked at the list of mission files they made the day before and counted them. 43, and that wasn't counting the Deep Fry he had planed, nor did it cover Bobby or Scot's extractions. 46 missions that were time sensitive. He grouped them by proximity and ran the numbers through his head. That still left them with 10 really big, time sensitive, dangerous missions with multiple target locations, spanning whole cities. It could be done but they needed more agents and if he was honest team leaders. Someone trusted to get the job done. As of now they only had Sarah, Casey, Sam, Carina, and just maybe they could talk Major Snow out of retirement. Jordan was going to be with him at RI when it all went down so she was out of play. That was five team leaders for ten teams. They were short by half.

Chuck knew the answer to his problem but he didn't want to admit it. They needed Intersect equipped agents. They didn't need to be outfitted like him, but they needed fighting skills. They needed to be able to clear a whole safe house leading a very small tactical team. The problem is they didn't have the manpower. Even with Melissa, Kate and Alex getting the basic skill list that still only gave them eight and that was pushing it. They needed more people. But who could he trust with that kind of power? The only name that popped into his head was Morgan. If the situation was explained to him. If he understood the gravity of what was going on then he could do it. With a skills download and a crash course in agents training he could do it. That gave him nine. They needed one more. One more agent that could handle a team. That left that strange bunker in Nevada desert open. He wasn't sure what was in that bunker but, he didn't like to leave that one target up to chance. It looked like nothing, but he wasn't willing to bet it was in fact empty. The only solution he could come up with was to send a ten man tactical team by themselves and if they ran into any real problems then Chuck, Casey, and Jordan were only an hour helicopter ride away. It would have to work that way. Because he was not going to trust a random agent with the intersect. He was putting the finishing touches on his plan when Melissa sat down on the couch next to him.

"What are you doing?" She asked looking over his new mission files.

"I'm setting up the end game. We have a lot of work to do. I have to get going on downloading things into my head. I need to get you guys in to do a skill download. I'm going to need you to lead the mission in Chicago. You'll be leading a team of ten tactical agents in to five locations. I outlined the worst possible threats first and the easy targets last." Chuck said opining the folder marked Chicago.

"How the hell am I going to do all that?" Melissa asked looking over the mission outline.

"By Tuesday of next week you will have most of the skills I'm downloading this week. I'm going to come up with a master list of skills that need to go into every member of the team. I want all of us to be ready. The rest of the week and most of the third week will be training time for You, Kate, Alex, and Morgan. I want Sarah and Casey to run you guys through every possible scenario. I want you guys so prepared that nothing can stop you. You four are going to be the tip of the spear from now on. I don't want anything to happen to you guys out there so I want you to train hard. This is all going down on Saturday of the third week. I'm counting on you to keep everyone motivated during training. You, and Alex are the most trained of the bunch, and that's saying something. But you have something she doesn't have. You have energy. You can keep them going when the training gets tough. You're all going to be super agents when the week is up. I want you to keep them in line. Remember, you're the first person I recruited to the team. You're my choice. My secret weapon." Chuck said hugging her.

"Thank you Chuck." She said teary eyed. He was giving her a mission. A real mission. As a team leader even.

"No thank you. Melissa you're quickly becoming my best friend. I love you. I would do anything for you. Now when you're training I want you to pay special attention to Morgan. He's my brother in all but blood, and he doesn't have one good agent quality in his little body, but what he does have is trust. He is the most trustworthy guy in the world. He's the very definition of dependable. And he will follow you to the gates of hell if you asked him to." Chuck said.

"I'll take care of him. If he means that much to you I'll keep my eyes on him." She said getting very serious.

"Good that's all I can ask for." Chuck said standing up very slowly.

When she saw his labored movements she stopped him. "Chuck what's wrong?" She asked touching his hip. Chuck jumped when she did and she knew something was up. "Chuck take off your shirt." She said standing up. Chuck saw the determined look in her eyes and sighed. He lifted his shirt and she saw the dark purple bruises on his body. "Chuck what happened?" she asked as she looked at the big fist shaped marks.

"I decided to go to the gym. Jordan was in there. I can't remember the details leading up to the sparing match, but I do know I lost and I owe her dinner and a foot massage. It's always I foot massage. I just don't get it." He said pulling off his sweatpants as he walked to the bathroom.

"Sam and I both told you not to mess with her work out didn't we?" Melissa asked in a 'I told you so' voice that Chuck found very grating right about now.

"How was I supposed to know a 40 year old could kick my ass? I have the Intersect for God's sake! It did nothing! She's so fast! I'm pretty sure she cheated too!" Chuck complained all the way to the glass shower door.

Melissa just laughed. Having been on the receiving end of Jordan's sparing she knew he was both humiliated and in a lot of pain. On the other hand she remembered, in sharp detail, telling him not to fight Jordan. So in a way he deserved everything he got this morning. Now she just had to get Jordan's side of the story. She crossed the apartment back to the bedroom and grabbed her Blackberry. She called Jordan and she picked up on the first ring. "I didn't mean to hurt him that badly, I swear!" Were the first words out of Jordan's mouth.

"That's not why I'm calling. You still in the building?" Melissa asked.

"Yeah. He's taking his time getting up today. I think he think's it's cool to go in to the office late like Carmichael." Jordan said with destine.

"Well come down here. I need to talk to you." Melissa said.

"I'll be right down." Jordan said.

Melissa went to the closet and pulled out the new three piece black suit she got him yesterday and laid it on the bed. She added a white shirt and red tie to the pile before she grabbed the robe off the hook and went to answer the door.

"See this is what I'm talking about. It almost 8AM and you're still in your bath robe!" Jordan said.

"Good morning to you too. For all that attitude I'm reporting you to Walker when I see her today. I'm telling the Enforcer that you beat up her husband. She's going to kill you." Melissa said laughing as she made coffee.

"For the record I thought he would do a lot better then he did. He only got one good hit in. At first I thought he was trying not to hit a woman. You know being all gentlemanly about the whole thing, but after I landed a few solid hits on him I saw I was out matching him punch for punch.

"Do you think he was just letting you win?" Melissa asked pulling out three mugs.

"I don't think the Intersect works very well." Jordan said taking the coffee cup from Melissa.

"The Intersect works fine. Your just that good." Chuck said taking a seat across from Jordan.

"Well then I don't see the point in downloading the thing if I'm better then it." Jordan said.

"But you see you're confusing Kickboxing with Fighting. This morning you beat me up because I was sticking to Kickboxing. I had tons of chances to switch to a different fighting style and lay you out, but we were kickboxing, not fighting. Those are two very different things. That's like saying lets sword fight. We both pull out swords. You out match me so you start to over power me. If I pulled out a gun and shot you it wouldn't have been very sporting would it?" Chuck asked mixing cream into his coffee.

"So your saying I might be better at kickboxing but if we were in a real fight you would have beat me?" Jordan asked smirking.

"Yes." Chuck said looking over the menu. "I think I'll have pancakes, eggs, and bacon today. How about you two?" He asked with a big smile.

"I don't believe you. I kicked your ass way too easy this morning." Jordan said.

"It's like I said, if I could use something else the results would have been very different." Chuck said.

"I think I'll have the same thing Chuck. How about you Jordan, what do you want?"

"A rematch! That's what I want. This time I want to see the Intersect at work." Jordan said standing up.

"Jordan, I'm not going to fight you." Chuck said.

"Are you afraid I'll kick your ass again?" She asked with a smirk.

"Jordan, I'm not going to fight you." Chuck said with a sad smile.

"Oh so now you're not going to hit a woman?" She asked getting angry.

"Jordan, I respect you too much as an agent to say something like that. As soon as you learn a hundred ways to kill someone. You stop being a woman and start being an agent. That being said, I'm still not going to fight you Jordan. I'm not going to unleash the power of the Intersect on you." Chuck said looking her in the eye.

"Okay chicken, I see you're afraid of getting you ass kicked. Now I know you back down from fights. You just lost respect in my book." Jordan said trying to egg him on.

"Chuck, just beat her ass already. She's not going to stop until you do." Melissa said holding the phone.

"Fine but I just took a shower. We're not going to do what we did this morning again." Chuck standing up. He took off his jacket and handed it to Melissa. He unbuttoned his cuffs and took three steps away for the table.

Jordan pulled off her own black suit jacket leaving her in a skirt, corset top and high heels. "Where are we doing this?" she asked smirking.

"Melissa just ordered my pancakes, we're doing this right here. I'm hungry and I don't want to get all sweaty. If I put you on your ass will you let this go?" Chuck asked as he tested his range of motion.

Jordan looked from Chuck to the marble floor and back to him. "Here?" She asked with some trepidation.

"Why not? We're both trained agents. We both know how to fall without breaking every bone in our bodies. And like I said, pancakes are coming." Chuck said dropping into a fighting stance Jordan didn't recognize.

"Okay how are we going to do this?" She asked.

"You knock me down you win. I put you down and I win. Either way it's going to be done in a few seconds, so come at me." Chuck said smirking.

Jordan bunched up her skirt and tried to go for the win by going with a fake punch and a surprise round house kick. Chuck blocked her kick with his forearm and jabbed two fingers into a point on her calf. When he let go she had no feeling in her leg from the knee down. She tried to take a step and stumbled. Chuck being Chuck, he tried to catch her but she used his worry to land a jab to his jaw. Chuck rolled with the punch, grabbed her arm, and spun her around. He stepped behind her and grabbed her in a choke hold. When she elbowed him in the ribs he jabbed the nerve ending in the middle of her spine and she lost all feeling in her body from the waist down. Chuck let go of her and she landed on her ass. She looked shocked. It all happened so fast. From the first punch till she landed on her ass took less then three seconds.

"Are we done yet?" Chuck said holding out his hand.

"Yes." She said in shock. She tried to stand up but she fell back down.

"Sorry about that." Chuck said picking her up off the floor, and putting her back in her seat. "I'm still getting the hang of that. You should regain feeling in you legs soon." Chuck said sitting back down.

"What the hell was that?" Jordan asked rubbing her legs.

"It was a mix of a few things. The block and grabs were a mix of three different fighting styles. The nerve thing was a mix of massage techniques, and acupuncture." Chuck said there was a knock at the door and Melissa came back with the room service cart.

"3 pancakes, 3 eggs over easy, and 6 strips of bacon for Chuck." She said putting the plate in front of him. "Heart healthy platter Jordan?" she said putting a plate with egg whites and fresh cut fruit in front of Jordan. "And 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, and six strips of BACON for me!" She said excitedly before she attacked her bacon like a she wolf.

"You really love bacon don't you?" Chuck said smiling at his friend. He thought it was cute when she totally lost it over bacon.

"You know what that stuff does to your insides right?" Jordan asked looking sick at the way Melissa was devouring her bacon.

"But it soooo goood!" She said looking affronted.

"You're so weird." Jordan said munching on a raspberry.

Chuck laughed. "Leave her alone, at this table, you're the weird one. Sitting there with your plate of fruit, and half eggs. Hell, less then half. The yellow's the good part." Chuck said cramming a huge fork full of pancakes in his mouth.

"How the hell can you eat like that? I can feel myself getting fatter just watching you two." Jordan said making a face.

"We're both 28. We can eat what ever we want plus we both have good genes. Her whole family going back to the civil war have served in the military, and I'm descended from skinny nerds on one side and a CIA agent on the other. that's got to count for something. I'm also thinking about working out every morning. not like you but a good workout." Chuck said adding more syrup to his pancakes.

"And I eat like a bird the rest of the day." Melissa added savoring the taste of her bacon.

"Is there anything in the world better then bacon?" Chuck asked rhetorically.

"Sex." Jordan said smirking at chuck.

"No, making love." Melissa said smiling at Chuck. "There's a difference you know. I never thought there was, but now I know there is a big difference." She said blushing.

Chuck's Blackberry went off. When he pulled it out he saw it was Sam. "Hello Agent Glass." He said mindful of the fact that the cell phone was monitored. He got up from the table to get away from the two laughing women.

"Agent Carmichael sir. The mission is going good Sir. I located the substation and the security is very light. I should have your files in a few days Sir." She said very robotically, but there was also a hint of something else in her voice.

"Thank you for the heads up. Should I call you tomorrow or are you going to call me?" Chuck asked

"You can call me anytime between now and noon for an update, but I'm going dark after that till I call you." She said.

"Understood. keep up the good work." he said.

"What's up?" Melissa asked when Chuck hung up.

"Sam called me to tell me I should call Carina for an update." Chuck said pulling out a burn phone, and punched in Carina's number.

"Hey Chuck." She answered.

"Hey Carina, what's going on?" Chuck asked. He was very confused. This was a breach of protocol. All communication for secondary missions were supposed to go through Sarah and Casey.

"I made contact with Bobby last night when we got here. Sam is staying in my guest bedroom. No one is watching us. We are not being followed, and I don't think Fulcrum is watching Bobby outside of the office either. Sam's extremely mad. She spent all of last night ranting about the last two years. She feels like she worked for Fulcrum for two years for nothing. She could have taken her sister and ran a long time ago. I talked her down, but I think she needs to talk to you. I also wanted to talk to you about Bobby. I think we should bring her in on the mission." She said.

"Well let's run through this one problem at a time. First off explain to me what you mean by they're not watching her?" Chuck asked taking a seat on the couch.

"I mean they're not watching her at all. I went to her apartment last night. There was no one staking the place out, and when I swept for bugs I didn't find any. Aside from work I don't think they are keeping an eye on her. I think it's because she has very little time outside of work for anything so they do bother to keep track of her." Carina said.

"Well that's good for us. It means that her extraction is going to be very easy. She can just meet Sarah in the morning and stay with her as she works her way through her missions." Chuck said thinking about the mission Sarah had to do that day.

"Sarah's handling her extraction? I thought me or Sam would do it." Carina asked sounding disappointed.

"You can't. I need you in Austin Texas and I need Sam in New York. We're taking it all down Carina, all of it. After Saturday three weeks form now Fulcrum we be history. And if we can do it quickly and quietly no one will even know it existed." Chuck said looking over the mission briefings he created for each member of the team.

"Why am I going to Austin? Why can't I stay here and handle this?" She asked sadly.

"Because Bobby's extraction is only one part of the D.C. mission. There are eight locations in D.C. they have to be scouted, a plan has to be drawn up for each location, and all of them have to be hit fast to keep the element of surprise on our side. I need The Enforcer in D.C. I need my drug enforcement expert in Austin where the two warehouses storing a bulk of Fulcrum's drug operation is. I need someone that can work with the local DEA agents. Now do you know anyone else the has years of working with the DEA besides you? If you do I'll gladly send them to Austin in your place. There's nothing I would like better then you in D.C. backing my wife up, but I need you in Austin." Chuck said.

"Okay, I'll go to Austin, but why can't Sam work D.C. instead of Sarah? That why she can be with her sister for two weeks." Carina asked.

"Same situation as you. The New York mission has six locations spread over all five burrows. The only way to get to some of these places is by helicopter. Repel line, or parachute. All areas of expertise for Sam. Plus She has a good working relationship with the New York City FBI field office. She has friends there that can help with the planning of the mission. I also need Sarah in D.C. because she has friends in the Secret Service. I found a NOC working on the PPD. His mission is to take out the President. I need Sarah to worn then. I don't want to spook the President by telling him his bodyguard is a sleeper agent." Chuck said.

"They have what!?" She yelled.

"I have a lot of new information regarding Fulcrum and their organization. I'm going to need you two back here when you're both done with your missions. Now what are your plans for bringing Bobby in on the mission?" Chuck asked.

"Well I figure, if Fulcrum isn't watching her I'll take her out to lunch today and if we're not being followed I'll tell her what's going on. I was also thinking about setting up a meeting at my house between Bobby and Sam." Carina said.

"I trust your judgment on this. If you think it can be done without tipping Fulcrum off then go for it. I want her to get time with her sister too. I couldn't imagine spending two years away from Elle. I want her to have as much time as she can with Bobby." Chuck said sadly.

"I will Chuck, if I think I we can I'll have Bobby spend the night here." Carina said.

"Good. Thank you so much for doing this. I also want to say this new maturity you're showing is great. We've been talking for ten minutes and you haven't said one inappropriate thing. I don't know what Sarah told you, but I like this new side of you. I wanted to also say welcome to the team. Your years of experience as an undercover operative and as a drug enforcement officer are going to be a huge asset to the team. Welcome to the family Carina." Chuck said with real sincerity.

"Thank you Chuck. That means a lot to me. It's been a long time since I've had someone to watch my back. It's been even longer since I've had a family. I look forward to spending time with Sarah again." Carina said in a voice thick with emotion.

"Like I said it's good to have you on the team. Now let me talk Sam off the ledge." Chuck said, he could hear in the background Carina telling Sam to get her ass over to the phone.

"Hello." Sam said in a voice that asked a lot with one word.

"Talk to me, what's going on? Tell me what I have to do to make it right." Chuck said in a very soothing voice.

"Chuck I've spent the last two years having nightmares about the horrible things they would do to Bobby if I didn't play along with everything they told me to do. I've killed for them, traded secrets for them. And all this time I could have hopped a plane, got Bobby, and ran. We could have had the last two years together. I have money saved up. We could have been living on the beach somewhere. I feel like a total idiot! How can I be so stupid? Why didn't I check on her? Why didn't I look to see if they were watching her? I could kill them all right now! I want them all dead! They took two years from me! Two years of being with the only person that means anything to me! I want them all Chuck. I want to kill them all! I want to kill Roark! I want to take my time with it. He'll beg me for death before it's over!" She screamed.

"Sam! Sammy I need you to calm down right now! Breath Sammy. Good, that's my girl. Take a deep breath and think about this for a second. Think about the situation your in right now and think about how long it took to get here. Yes Bobby is unguarded now, but can you say for sure that she always was? Can you tell me with certainty that she was always left alone? How about the fact that I got permission from Roark to even let you go to D.C.? Think about it Sammy, how fast would he have realized you slipped your leash and you were headed for Bobby? How fast do you think he could have a Fulcrum agent kill Bobby? All he would have to do was pick up a phone. There are at least 80 Fulcrum agents stationed in and around the D.C. area. How fast do you think he could get a trigger man to Bobby's location and kill her? Think about all that before you start cursing yourself. Think about this logically. How many boring nights did it take before they stopped watching her outside of work? How close do you think she works to an armed Fulcrum agent that would have no qualms about killing your innocent little sister? Now pull yourself together and relax. This is all going to be over in a little under three weeks. But I'll tell you this right now we can not kill Ted Roark. I'm going to arrest him and hold him in Castle for questioning. Now a guy like Roark isn't just going to hand over the information we want. It's going to take hours and hours of very creative interrogation to get him to talk. I can let you have some time asking the questions but you're going to have to get in line behind me, and Jordan. Because he might have taken away two years with your sister, but he's spent the last eight months literally fucking her over and I just found out the bustard kidnapped and killed my father fifteen years ago. So while I'm not trying to down play your two years of being forced to work for Fulcrum, I'm telling you that your turn comes after mine and Jordan's." Chuck said in an angry voice that made all for of the women shudder.

For Sam and Jordan it was in fear. They never wanted to be on the receiving end of that rage. For Melissa and Carina it was because they were hot. Carina was thinking about the things Sarah told her about the new Chuck. The white hot rage spoke loudly of a man that took what he wanted and if there was one thing that got her very worked up it was being taken. She loved to be the one in charge, but when she found a partner that could take control of the situation? Oh she thought as a shiver ran up her spine. Melissa on the other hand was hot because that was the voice he used during the extraction and in the lobby downstairs. The image of him standing there in that black Armani suit, holding that UMP .45 with the wind blowing his jacket open and his black tie over his shoulder. She felt the heat start to rise up in the middle of her belly and shoot throughout her body. She knew she would never get him but there was no harm in fantasizing about it. She liked her lips, and crossed her legs.

"Okay Chuck, you're right. I wasn't thinking about any of that. I just. I miss her so much." She said crying sadly.

"I know you do. My sister is the only family I have too. It would kill me to not see her for two whole years. I haven't seen her in a week and I feel terrible. Now Carina said she's going to take Bobby out for lunch and tell her what's going on. She also said if it was safe she was going to invite her over to her house. You'll have all of tonight to talk to her. To share things with her, and be with her. Tomorrow I want you to set up a reliable communication system with her. I want to keep her in the loop from now on. I also want to make sure you two can stay in touch. Two years is long enough to be without each other." Chuck ordered.

"Yes Sir." Sam replied with a smile.

"Good. Now how is your mission going?" Chuck asked.

"I haven't had the chance to go yet, but I'm headed there today. I hope to complete my mission by noon today." She said.

"Excellent, you know what to do. Take your time with it. I really want you to think about the legacy you already have, as well as the one you could have with us. Take care of your self Sammy, and when you get back I'll take you out to get ice cream." He said smiling.

"I will, I promises. Thank you Chuck. For being you, and for looking out for me. I, well… I love you Chuck." She said blushing.

"I love you to Sammy. You're one of my girls, I always look after my girls." Chuck said with a soft smile.

"So Melissa told you about the Angel pendants?" Sam asked laughing.

"Angel pendants?" Chuck asked confused.

"OH CRAP! Forget I said anything. I'll see you later Chuck!" She said hanging up.

Chuck looked at the phone in his hand with a confused look on his face. He then looked at Melissa. "Melissa, Sam mentioned something to me and then freaked out when I didn't know what she was talking about. Do you have any idea what she talking about?" Chuck asked sitting back down to finish his now cold pancakes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. What did she say?" Melissa asked putting her plate on the room service cart.

"Something about Angel pendants." Chuck said shoving the last strip of bacon in his mouth.

"I have no clue." She said tucking her hair behind her right ear.

"Really because I've noticed something. You play with your hair when you lie. Now I know everyone's entitled to their own secrets. If this is one of those things that you really don't want me to know just tell me so. You don't have to lie to me you know?" He asked pulling her into a hug.

"I know, it's just that this was a surprise for you and she just killed it." Melissa said sadly.

"Well you can tell me now or you can wait till later, it's up to you. I'm sure I'll love it." He said kissing the top of her head.

"Okay I'll give it to you now." She said pulling away from him and going into the bedroom. She came back holding three small boxes. She handed the biggest box to him.

Chuck opened the box and saw a titanium Rolex watch. "It's beautiful Melissa." He said smiling.

"Read the engraving on the back." She said shyly.

Chuck pulled the watch out of the box and flipped it over. On the back was engraved 'Charlie's Angels 01/02/10' Chuck looked at it with a confused look on his face. He looked at Melissa and she smiled and opened one of the other two boxes. In side was a platinum Angel pendent with C.A. in gold inlaid. Then it clicked into place. The second of January was just a few days ago. It was also the day he told her the truth and recruited her to the team. He looked from the watch to the pendent and the theme song from Charlie's Angels played in his head. A huge smile formed on his face. "Good morning Angel?" He asked trying not to laugh.

"Good Morning Charlie!" She said laughing. She held up the pendent. "Can you put this on me?" She asked with her eyes twinkling.

"Of course my Angel." He said fasting the chain around her neck. He put the watch on and kissed her on the cheek. "This is awesome. I had this crazy dream about two nights ago about my Angels and you get me this? It's so cool."

"Do I get one?" Jordan asked smirking.

"Well that depends." Melissa said matching her smirk.

"On what?" Jordan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you, Jordan Rodgers, pledge to be the best Angel you can be? To always have your fellow Angel's back? And to always be Charlie's girl?" Melissa asked getting very serious.

"I do." Jordan said in the same tone.

"Then by the power vested in me as the head Angel I present to you your very own Angel." Melissa said opening the other box to revel a gold Angel with a silver C.A.

"How come's mine is different then yours?" Jordan asked holding the pendent out to Chuck so he could put it on her.

"You're the gold Angel. I'm the platinum Angel. Sam's is white gold, and Kate's is silver." Melissa said holding her Angel pendent.

"So you're the head Angel? What about Walker?" Jordan asked looking at her Angel.

"Sarah is Chuck's wife. She's not an Angel. She's Mrs. Charlie." Melissa said.

Chuck thought the whole thing was funny, and cute. But a part of him, the part that was very protective of Melissa and Sam found the situation very touching. It's not like this changed anything. They were his girls anyway, even Jordan, who was way older then him and had more experience them most of the whole team. Now they put a title to his feelings of protectiveness. They were his Angels. In a way they were like the Angels from the TV show. They were all highly trained, and skilled. They were all treated like dirt by the people they worked for, and so now they worked for him. His name was Charlie after all. He thought laughing. "What does that make Carina and Casey?" Chuck asked.

"They can fight over the title of Basely." Melissa said.

"But Basely was always such a happy guy. I don't think Casey fits that description." Chuck said smiling. "And Carina and Sarah can't be Angels they're already C.A.T.s"

"Cats?" Melissa asked.

"Long before there were Angels, four highly skilled and trained girls work together on the Clandestine attack team. C.A.T. Squad for short." Chuck said.

"Tell me more about this Cat squad." Melissa said getting into the story.

"Well it all started with Sarah…" And for the next hour Chuck went over some of the C.A.T. squad's missions.

While that was happening Sam got out of a cab in front of Arlington National cemetery. She knew where she was going. She had looked it up last night.

Looking over the snow covered cemetery with it's white headstones made the whole experience surreal. Sam felt a sense of floating outside of her body as she drifted over the snow in a daze. She found the grave she was looking for. She didn't know what would happen when she saw it. Would she feel strange? Would she cry? Would she laugh? No she felt a heavy weight on her shoulders and her knees buckled. She didn't know how long she knelt there reading the inscription, but she knew it by heart. Samantha Lyn Glass (1980 - 2009) Beloved Sister, She Served With Honor. That was all it said? That was it? Beloved Sister, She Served With Honor? Was that all she was? What about decorated Agent? Or how about National Hero? And Served With Honor? Served? It sounded like she was some kind of solder. She was no solder. She wasn't one of many. She wasn't the tip of the sword. She was a scalpel. She was surgical. She didn't fight in wars. She started, or ended them. She didn't march into some foreign country with thousands. She was dropped in behind enemy lines with no back up and limited intelligence. HOW DARE THEY! Was all that she could think. She seethed with rage. How dare they group her in with the many. With the rest of the heroes. She wasn't one of them. She didn't do the things they did.

Then she remembered she was a NOC. Non-Official Cover operative. No one knew she was an agent outside of the CIA. Bobby knew because she worked for the CIA and her mother knew because she herself was a NOC but to the world at large she was just another name in a sea of names. Was this what Chuck wanted her to see? That her record as it stood was non-existent? That if she left now she would forever be just a name? No one could know what she had accomplished? No one would know of her five Intelligence Stars? Nor her six Purple Hearts?

On some level she knew this already. They told her this at The Farm. They told her and the other candidates that if they were caught or killed the government would disavow them. They would end up a star on the wall and a blank spot in a book. They told them that their victories would never be known. They would save the world from total destruction and no one would know. That's the way the world kept working. That was the reason they existed in the first place. They did things no one else could, to save the world from itself, and they never got credit for it. She knew all of this and yet she was frozen in place looking at the inscription. She wondered if this was what Ebenezer Scrooge felt like when he was visited by the ghost of Christmas future? Looking at the white stone cross she thought about what her funeral must have looked like. She thought about Bobby standing there all alone, watching them lower an empty casket into the ground. It wasn't the fact that Bobby had to attend her funeral that made Sam feel sick to her stomach. No it was the alone part that stared the tears flowing. She had no one besides Bobby. No one.

She didn't know how long she stayed there crying. She didn't even notice the cold snow seeping through her jeans and chilling her to the bone. She didn't even notice the old woman standing next to her until she tapped her on the shoulder. "Was she a friend of yours?" the old lady asked softly.

At first Sam didn't know what to say. How could she tell this little old lady that she was sitting in the snow morning herself? What could she say? Looking at the honest sad looking the old woman's eye she knew she couldn't lie, not very good at lest. She looked at the gravestone "Yes, we were very close." The words came tumbling out of her mouth without thought.

"I'm very sorry dear. Did she serve in Iraq?" The old lady asked softly.

"She was there, yes. But she didn't spend a lot of time there. She was there for the start of the war. She spent some time many places in her long career. She saw a lot of fighting in her short life." Sam said unable to keep the tears from falling.

"She was with the company then?" The old lady said sadly.

Sam jerked her head up to look at the old lady. "Company?" Sam asked with a confused look on her face.

The old lady smile a sad little smile. "Don't worry dear. My Gerald was with the Company too. It's sad to see the inscription isn't it? They never get the respect they deserve do they? My Gerald spent most of his life preventing World War Three and all he gets is He Served With Honor." The old lady said looking at a grave marker twenty feet away.

"Our failures are known, our victories are not." Sam said sadly.

"You're with the company too then?" The old lady asked.

"I used to be. I retired with her." Sam said looking at the grave.

"She was your partner?" The lady asked.

"In a way. We were very close." Sam said.

"It must have been hard to lose her. It's always a sad day when we lose an agent. They do so much for so little and very few of them make it back home for a proper burial. Did she make it home at lest?" The old lady asked.

"Yes she did. She made it home." Sam said feeling light headed.

"Good. My Gerald didn't. He's buried on a ditch somewhere in Russia. Those Commy bustards killed him. He gave this country thirty years of service and all he got was an empty grave and He Served With Honor." The old lady said angrily.

"That's terrible Ma'am. I'm so sorry." Sam said shivering at the thought of not coming home.

"Stop with the Ma'am stuff. Call me Rose. There's nothing to feel sorry about. You made it home. He didn't. It's a sad fact that a lot of you guys don't make it home. But I celebrate the ones that do. Why don't you stand up off the ground and let me buy you a cup of coffee?" She asked with a sad smile.

"I can't. I have one more stop to make. I promised a friend I would." Sam said standing up.

"A rain check then. Are you aware of the widow's club?" Rose asked pulling a Card out of her handbag.

"No I'm not. What is it?" Sam asked looking at the card.

"It's a group of us widows that meets every week to talk and socialize. It's hard sometimes to talk to people that don't know what it's like to work for the Company. Sometimes we get survivors like you. We don't ask questions. We know you can't answer them, but we do listen." Rose said sincerely.

"Thank you Rose, but I have my own support group. I will tell everyone I know about this though. There are a few of us out there with no one to talk to." Sam said sadly.

"Well, I hope you can come anyways. We are always happy to meet a survivor." Rose said.

"Thank you for the offer Rose. I think it's great that you guys are out there doing this." Sam said.

"We do it for us more then anything. I'll see you around if you come to visit. If not then I wish you luck." Rose said holding out her hand.

Sam didn't know why she did it, but she stepped up to Rose and hugged her. "Thank you for talking to me Rose. I don't know how long I would have sat there if you hadn't come over to talk to me." Sam said softly.

"It's the lest I could do for my Gerald's partner's kid Samantha." Rose said laughing.

Sam pulled away looking shocked. "How?" She asked.

"You look just like your mother, and Bobby is a member of the group. She comes here often. She never stopped looking you know?" Rose said sadly.

"I know. I can't go into details but I couldn't contact her. I'm going to see her today. I would appreciate it if we can keep this between us." Sam said looking around.

"Of course dear. I know how it is. So you're not really out then?" Rose asked sadly.

"Yes and No. I've quite the company, but I'm working with a new group now. One that will make sure I get home. Even if it's just to end up here." Sam said smiling.

"Good. Tell Bobby to talk to me when she gets the chance. I think she got herself a boyfriend. She's missed a few meetings. It's good. She's too young to be a spinster like the rest of us." Rose said laughing.

"I will Rose. I'll tell her. Do you know were my Mother is? I've never really liked coming here and I get turned around so fast." Sam said looking at all of the rows of white crosses.

"She over that way about a hundred yards. I put a lily by her stone. It was her favorite after all." Rose said with a far away look in her eyes.

"Thank you Rose, for everything. I would love to talk to you sometime about my mother." Sam said.

"Bobby has my information. I try to look in on her as much as I can. We usually meet up for coffee on Saturdays." Rose said.

"I'll be in L.A. by then. But I'm going to have some time off in about three weeks. We'll set something up for then if that's okay with you?" Sam asked.

"I would like that. The last time we talked you were six I think. So young but so smart, and pretty just like your mother. I knew the first time I saw you that you'd join the Company one day." Rose said smiling.

"I'll see you then Rose." She said pulling the older woman into another hug.

Across town Carina sat down in a both across from Bobby. She smiled, they were both wearing almost the same outfit of a pair of black slacks, gray button down shirt, and black leather jacket. A motorcycle jacket in Carina's case and a nicely tailored blazer for Bobby. "I See you remembered what I told you about wearing clothes that fit instead of something you pulled off the rack in the boys section of the department store." Carina said picking at Bobby's jacket.

"Good afternoon, I'm having a good day how about you?" Bobby said sarcastically pulling her arm away smirking.

"You know I love you like a little sister. I'm just trying to look out for you." Carina said.

Bobby smiled a sad little smile. "I know, and I like it a lot when you do, but it reminds me of Sam." Bobby said.

Carina looked around the half empty café and didn't see anything out of place. She looked Bobby in the eye. "Were you followed here?" She asked.

Bobby's head shot up and she looked around. "No." She said checking all of the people in the place out to see if she noticed one of them. "Why?" she asked smiling.

"This is no joke kid. I want you to really think about it. Use the training your mother gave you. Were you followed here?" Carina asked getting serious.

"No. I would know if a was. What's with all the paranoia?" Bobby asked getting scared.

"I will tell you everything, but first I need you to promise me you wont freak out." Carina said.

"Okay?" Bobby said confused.

"I found her Bobby. I found Sam." Carina said with big smile.

"What."

"I Found Sam. She's living in Los Angels. She's been working undercover with Fulcrum for the last two years. They think she's been working for them because they're watching you Bobby. At work at least. I didn't find anything in your apartment, but Sam has seen the feed from the camera in your intel. pit. She's been messing up their operations for two years now, but they're getting suspicious of her. She's working with a friend of mine to bring the whole group down. She can tell you all about it later at my house were you're going to spend the night." Carina said waving over the waitress.

"WHAT!?" Bobby asked almost hyperventilating.

"SHhhhhh! I told you, you can't freak out on me Bobby. I need you to stay calm. Now what's good here, this is your spot after all?" Carina asked looking at the menu. The waitress came over. "Hi, what's good here?" Carina asked the waitress.

"We have a really good Chicken salad sandwich and house salad combo that a lot of people order." The girl answered with a big smile.

"We'll have two of those and a bottle of your best Champaign with two glasses please." She said handing over the two menus. When the waitress walked away Carina looked at Bobby and laughed at her lost expression. "You know I could have told you all this slowly, but I think giving it to you all at once like that is more fun."

"You're so mean! now tell me everything. I want to know it all. How is she. Is she okay?" Bobby asked excitedly.

"She's fine, she was hung up on the fact that she was working with Fulcrum, but Chuck helped her get over that." Carina said holding Bobby's hand.

"Who's this Chuck guy? Is he her boyfriend?" Bobby asked smirking.

"No. he's married to my sister Sarah. But he's a good guy. He picked her up off her ass and turned her back into the Sam Glass we both know and love." Carina said. "She on a mission for him here in D.C. but he told me to make sure you two get as much time together as possible. That's why I want you to go home after work, pack a bag, and come to my house. She'll be waiting for you. I'm going out now to get supplies. We're going to have a sleepover! It's going to be so much fun. We're going to get hammered and watch movies and sit by the fire place in our PJ's." Carina said popping the cork on the bottle of champagne.

"I can't wait!" Bobby said smiling.

Chuck and Melissa sat in his office at RI. Chuck sat behind his desk running the Intersect. He was learning the ins and outs of skydiving. Melissa on the other hand sat in front of his desk watching Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Rings. Chuck bootlegged it for her for a couple of reasons. One was the fact that the move was three hours long and it would hold her attention for at least that long so that Chuck could get in some quality download time with out her hovering over him checking to see if he was okay. He was pretty sure at this point that she worried for him more that even Sarah did. A part of him was sure it was because she never really saw him flash a lot and last night really freaked her out.

The other reason he wanted her to watch Fellowship as well as the next two movies in the series was because they were Morgan's favorite movies and he wanted them to have something in common when they worked together. It was all a part of the plan to make Morgan into Melissa's perfect guy. It was a two prong assault. One was to make Melissa a little bit geeky, and the second was to make Morgan a little bit cooler. He was hoping they would meet in the middle somewhere and fall for each other. And hey stranger things have happened before. He was in fact married to one of the coolest women in the world. He was married to Sarah The Enforcer Walker for God's sake, and he got her without all of the Carmichael charm. He got her by being just Chuck. If he could do that then what was stopping Morgan from bagging a wonderful girl like Melissa.

The sequence ended and Chuck shook his head, and worked his jaw. He noticed that he grinded his teeth when he downloaded a sequence longer then a few minutes, but he could have Melissa get him a mouth guard or something. Until then he just had to suck it up and work through it. He was about to start the next sequence which had aggressive driving techniques and knife fighting. He also added some explosives and demolition skills. When someone knocked on the door. Melissa got up and opened it letting Jordan in.

"This is what you wanted. I got all of the footage plus the after-action debriefing interview with the two guys left standing after the extraction." She said handing Melissa a DVD.

"What's that all about?" Chuck asked leaning back in his chair.

"It's nothing. I'm heading out to lunch. I'm going to stop off at Castle to report in and see what's going on. I'll tell them about the phone call this morning, and drop off the hard drive. Where is it?" She asked gathering her bag and jacket.

"It's in my bag. I labeled it Castle." Chuck said standing up and stretching.

"I'll be back later, Jordan can you make sure he gets up and walks around a little bit. Maybe eat something?" Melissa asked giving Chuck the puppy dog eyes.

"Fine. Oh. Can you get me a mouth guard please? I'm grinding my teeth and it's making my jaw hurt." Chuck said rolling his neck.

"I can do that. I'll be back in a few hours." Melissa said walking out the door.

"Come on, it's time for lunch. Let go out for something. What do you want, my treat." Jordan said standing by the door.

"I want a really good burger. I'm talking big and greasy and nasty. And fresh cut fries." Chuck said enthusiastically as he grabbed his jacket rushing to catch up with her.

"Well that's not going to happen. You had eggs and bacon this morning. You're eating healthy for lunch." Jordan said walking off the elevator and through the lobby to the front doors.

"But you said anything a want." Chuck wined as they walked through the garage.

"No I said what do you want. My treat. If you want a burger I know a place that has a good vegan veggie burger. It taste just like a beef burger. They also make good sweat potato fries with a garlic sauce." Jordan said walking up to a black BMW M5 just like his car.

"Just like a beef burger?" Chuck asked getting in the car.

"Just like it. And they have a beer garden with a huge selection of beers." Jordan said pulling out of the garage.

"Well okay then. I do have to ask why Fulcrum uses so many BMWs it seams like everyone has one." Chuck asked putting the stereo on to the station he and Melissa found a few nights ago.

"We have a deal with a BMW dealership. He gets us access to the newest models at just a little over cost. I have a white Z4 back at Roark Tower." Jordan said pulling into a parking lot of a vegan restaurant.

"If this burger tastes like dirt I'm going to make you eat a greasy double bacon cheese burger I swear to god." Chuck said eyeing the hipsters sitting outside with distain.

"Fine but I'm confident about the vegan burger." Jordan said rolling her eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

Melissa parked her DB9 in front of the Orange-Orange and got out. She walked in and saw Alex behind the counter again. "They got you working the register again?" She asked smirking.

"Yeah. I think it's some kind of hazing thing." Alex said smiling. "But on the up side I get to wear yoga pants and a tank top all day. It's like working in your Pj's.

"Well I need to talk to The Enforcer, and the Major. Are they down there?" Melissa asked.

"Yes they are, and I think Agent Walker is in a bad mood. She was very short with me when she came in this morning." Alex said.

"Well her mood isn't going to improve with my visit that's for damn sure. You're running analysis on mission intel. right?" Melissa asked.

"I am." Alex said.

"Well come with me then, I've got a lot of intel. for you to look at." Melissa said walking towards the freezer. She walked down the stairs and found Casey sitting at the conference table looking over files.

"Good morning Captain Barns." He said looking up from his file for a few seconds.

"Good morning Major. Where's Walker?" She asked putting her purse on the table.

"She's in the gym hitting the heave bag." He grunted.

"Alex can you go get her please?" Melissa asked as she pulled the DVD out of her bag and walked over to the desk.

A minute later Alex came back with a sweaty Sarah in workout clothes. "So what do you want?" Sarah asked taking a seat at the table next to Casey.

"I wanted to show you all something before I get into the information Chuck downloaded from the RI servers." Melissa said putting the DVD into the player. The screen showed two men in black tactical gear sitting in an interrogation room. Melissa paused the video. "This is the after-action briefing of the only two men left of the nine man extraction team that came for us. I have not seen this footage yet but Jordan tells me it's very accurate." Melissa said.

The tape showed the two men going over the extraction, and what happened. It was very accurate. Melissa spent the whole time watching their reactions. Casey had a look of deep pride on his face when they described Chuck's detached look in his eyes when he shot their friends. Sarah on the other hand had a look of shock on her face. Melissa was expecting a lot of reaction to this video, but she never expected to get shock. She expected pride. She expected a smile over the joy of a job well done. Sarah made Chuck into the man he is now and she expected glee over the fact that he could pull something like this off. She did not think she was going to see shock. It's not like Chuck wasn't doing what any fully trained veteran agent would have done. What Sarah The Enforcer Walker would have done to gain Fulcrums respect. When the video ended the next one started up and Melissa saw Chuck's Car pull up to Roark Tower that first night. She paused the video again.

"This took place about three hours after the car exchange." She said hitting play. She watched from a high angle CCTV camera as Chuck took the doorman's gun. She watched as he stormed the building like an avenging angle. Seeing it from the camera's perspective she could see just how scary Chuck was. She watched with full sound as Chuck threatened to kill everyone in the building if they made him make his suit dirty. Casey laughed at that, but Sarah looked sick. Melissa didn't know what the other woman was thinking, but her reactions were pissing her off. The clip ended when Chuck and Roark sat down to talk over terms. The next clip showed Chuck pulling up to the parking garage. She paused again.

"I wasn't here for this one. This happened on his first day at RI." Melissa said hitting play. She watched Chuck smirk as he put the car in reverse and punched the gas. She watched him slide the car to a stop by the front door. She watched as he got out only to be met by three guys with guns. She watched as one of them shot at him. She smiled as Chuck returned fire dropping all three guards. She saw Jordan walk out with her gun drawn and give Chuck a hard time. She laughed when Chuck pulled off his suit jacket and dropped it on the guard he kicked in the nuts. She looked at Casey and saw he was close to laughing as well. She saw a look of lust on Alex's face. She smiled at that. She knew that look very well. But Sarah looked horrified. Melissa didn't know why she looked like that, nor did she know what she was thinking, but she did know one thing. That look on Sarah's face was pissing her off big time. She reached into her purse and pulled out the passport drive and handed it to Alex. "This has all of the files Chuck downloaded. We grouped the relevant files together for you. The ten mission files in the Mission folder you don't have to worry about at the moment. Chuck is going to set up a time when we can all get together and he can go over them with each of us. I think right now it's more important to focus on the financial records and the agent files." Melissa said looking at Sarah the whole time. When she said Chuck was going to brief the team Sarah flinched. "Now I think it's a good time for me to have a chat with Sarah." Melissa said standing up and walking out of the room. She turned around and looked at Sarah expectantly. "You coming or am I going to have to drag you out of the room?" Melissa asked angrily.

Sarah's eyes became hard as she shot out of her chair and marched past Melissa headed into interrogation room one. When Melissa walked into the room Sarah was pacing the small room like a caged tiger. "You got me here, now talk!" Sarah said still pacing.

"I only have a few questions to ask you. The first one is why are you so horrified by the thing's Chuck has done so far?" Melissa asked leaning against the wall.

"That's not my Chuck in that video. I don't know who that was but it sure as hell wasn't my Chuck!" Sarah said angrily.

"I don't understand. How was that not your Chuck?" Melissa asked knowing the answer and not liking it.

"Because the man I love would never shoot someone so casually. He would never go looking for a fight like that. Never. That's not my Chuck. I don't know who that was." Sarah said.

"You know exactly who that was. And on some level you're right. That wasn't your Chuck. That was Charles Carmichael. But that doesn't mean that your Chuck isn't in there too. Let me ask you this, does Chuck, sweet, innocent Chuck love Sarah, or Agent Walker?" Melissa asked.

"What?" Sarah asked stopping to look at Melissa.

"You know what I'm asking. Does he love you or agent Walker? It's a simple question. One that you know the answer to. Here I'll help you out. He loves Sarah. He tolerates agent Walker because he knows you need to keep her on the back burner for your job. Well now Chuck has another side to him. He's Chuck, sweet innocent Chuck, and he's agent Charles Carmichael too." Melissa said.

"Yes, but the look in his eyes when he shot those people. I don't know that person. I don't like that look. Not even a little bit." Sarah said looking away from the other woman.

"So it's okay for you to do bad things but the second he does them he's not your Chuck anymore? Well okay then. Call him and tell him you're breaking up with him because you don't like the look in his eyes when he was playing up his Carmichael persona. Call him and tell him he's not your Chuck anymore. Please do that. I want you to. Because if you don't want him there's a line of really hot women waiting to get their hands on him. I should know I'm the first one in line. So call him up and tell him it's over. Do it. I'll take great pleasure in comforting him. Great pleasure." Melissa said suggestively.

Sarah turned to her and all but bared her teeth. "How dare you say that! You're not putting your hands on him!" She yelled getting in Melissa's face.

"Why the hell not? It's not like you appreciate him. Hell just yesterday you tried to pull rank on him. You fucked him all up mentally you know? But that was what you were going for right? You see I don't think you give a damn about the look in his eyes when he shot those people, no I think you have a problem with the fact that Chuck has balls now. I think you don't like the fact that he's not weak, and dependent on you anymore. I think it's killing you to lose the power you had over him. I think on some level you liked the fact that he needed you to survive in this spy world we live in. I think you got off on it. Did you even ever really love him?" Melissa asked angrily.

"HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ME!" Sarah yelled grabbing Melissa by the front of her blouse and pinned her to the wall.

"That's right. There's The Enforcer. It's nice to meet you. I knew you couldn't hold it in forever. Come on. Pull rank on me. Show me who's boss. Do it. Because no matter who you think you are, your not my boss. You don't control me. I take orders from Chuck. So does half the team. Your not the leader anymore Walker, and if you where I would quit. Because it's clear that if you're not top dog then no one is. That's what you wanted to say to Chuck yesterday, right? I'm Sarah Walker! No one is better then me! Right? Hit me. Go ahead. Do it. You want to right? You want to prove you're tougher then me right? I can see it in your eyes. Show me what The Enforcer's capable of. Show me why half of the intelligence world hates you. Show ME!" Melissa yelled.

Sarah pulled her right arm back but stopped. She growled and let Melissa fall to the floor. "You don't know me so stay the fuck out of my head!" Sarah yelled looking at her clinched fists.

"I wonder what face Chuck would make if he saw this video. I wonder if he would be horrified by The Enforcer?" Melissa asked.

"He's seen The Enforcer before. He's met all of the sides of me and he's never flinched once." Sarah said sadly as she took a seat at the table.

"Makes you realize who the better person is, doesn't it?" Melissa asked disgustedly.

"Yes it does. Is that how people see me?" Sarah asked putting her head in her hands.

"Some do. I didn't before yesterday. Sam still hates you on some level for ending her career. Jordan only knows your reputation for being a crazy bitch. Kate, being CIA, has heard stories about you. Some good, some not so much. When we were first given your file as part of the fake taskforce to find you and Chuck some of the other agents knew about you. Some of the things they said were not very nice. Look I know that being the best of the best means pissing some people off. I also know it means that you have to run every part of the mission to get shit done. But when your playing the support role you have to actually support. You can't be in charge of a mission you're not on. Do you know what he was like yesterday after your phone call? He was half the man I know as Chuck. I can only guess that's how he was after Jill left him." Melissa said taking a seat across from Sarah.

"How the hell would you know?" Sarah asked getting defensive.

"We talk. You know the thing you don't like to do? Have you ever even told him your real name? Or where you grew up? Or your favorite color even? We covered all of that on the first day. Well I did any way, and he told me about himself after he brought me on board. With a guy like Chuck how the hell did you get away with not talking to him? He's so open and honest. Even when he was lying to me it was mostly built on truth. Not his truth, but truth none the less." Melissa said shaking her head.

"So you think you know My Husband better then I do because you talk?" Sarah asked defensively.

"I Know I do. The simple fact is I think he's too good for you. I also think you tricked him into loving you as much as he does. It's like some sick form of Stockholm Syndrome." Melissa said angrily.

"This I've got to hear. Come on you NSA Whore, tell me why I you think I don't deserve my own Husband." Sarah said sarcastically folding her arms.

Melissa looked at Sarah shaking her head. "I think he loves you more then you can ever love him back, and I think it's such a waste of a good man like him. I think you stacked the deck in your favor and then forced him into choosing you. You made sure the only hot woman he could have any sort of relationship with was his sister for the last year and a half. I also think you kept him dependent on you to stay alive so he was forced to latch onto you to survive in this world. I also think you kept stringing him along until he was fixated on you. I think he worships you like some deity, and you don't give a shit about him you cold hearted mean bitch." Melissa said getting in Sarah's face. But then she smiled and stepped back. "It doesn't matter though, because I'm just going to sit back a watch you fuck it up with him and when you do I'll be right there waiting to pick up the pieces." Melissa said smirking.

Sarah shot out of her chair "Fuck You! You don't know a God Damn thing about me! You come in here and think you can tell me all that shit? He's my Husband! Mine! And you don't know a Fucking thing about us! I love him with every fiber of my being. I love him just as much as he loves me and you can't do a thing about it! I don't care if I have to kill you, but your never getting My Chuck!" Sarah said advancing on Melissa.

But instead of fighting back, Melissa started clapping. "It's about damn time. I thought I was going to have to describe the nasty things I was going to do to him to get you to start acting like you cared about him." Melissa said smiling.

"What?" Sarah asked confused.

"I was pushing you into admitting your feelings for him. Now maybe you can tell him some of that? Lord knows he deserves to hear it. The man thinks you can do no wrong. It's like he thinks you can walk on water or something. It's nice to know you at least love him back." Melissa said.

"Of course I love him!" Sarah said looking insulted.

"Well from the crap you told him yesterday you had me questioning it." Melissa said.

"I really messed up big time didn't I?" Sarah asked.

"In a normal situation, what you said could have been laughed off, but out in the field? It hit him hard. He's made a lot of decisions over the last week that has him questioning himself, and his morals. Chuck's an honest guy. Having to keep up the lies and the tough guy front is very taxing for him. He doesn't know it but I can see it in his eyes. Every time he threatens to kill some one, every time he shoots some one, and every time he has to talk to Roark his eyes lose a little bit of their spark. But when he spends time talking to me about his day, or taking Sam to the range, or when he works out with Jordan his eye gain some of that spark back. When he can be just Chuck for a few hours at the end of the day I can see him come back to life almost. He smiles more. His shoulders relax. The time he spends taking care of us lets him concentrate on something besides the things he did that day to grow the ledged of Charles Carmichael." Melissa said holding her Angle pendent.

"You really do love him don't you?" Sarah asked smiling sadly.

"I really do. That stuff I said about picking up the pieces was not bullshit. While I'm not hoping you guys break up I will tell you there is a line of very sexy women that would love nothing more then to be with Chuck. I should know I'm at the head of that line. I know you love him but I think you need to realize your not the only beautiful woman in the world that knows he's a great guy. You need to start acting like it. You need to start treating him like he treats you. You need to count yourself very lucky that a guy like Chuck loves you." Melissa said smirking.

"I don't know if I should be happy that Chuck has such a good friend that loves him as much as you do, or I should see you as a threat to my marriage." Sarah said with a raised eyebrow.

"I think you should see me as both. I think to help keep you focused on making Chuck your top priority you should always remember I'm more then happy to take him off your hands. With that being said I don't think you and I are going to be as good of friends as we thought we were yesterday. I think having me around will keep you honest." Melissa said.

"I noticed you keep touching that pendent. Did Chuck give you that?" Sarah asked.

"No I gave it to myself. It's a symbol of being one of Charlie's Angles. A way to say I work for Chuck and no one else. I have one, Jordan has one and in a few days Sam and Kate will have one." Melissa said proudly.

"Do I get one?" Sarah asked smirking.

"No. You have your symbol of love, and dedication already. It's on a string around Chuck neck right now but it's yours. This is mine. I'll always be Chuck's girl. Like the women on the TV show he saved me from a life I didn't like living and made me into something more. I will forever be in his debt, and I'm more then happy spending the rest of my life repaying that debt. Without Chuck I'd still be a NSA whore as you put it." Melissa said smiling.

"Yeah I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean it." Sarah said.

"Yes you did, and I'm okay with it. It's not like we're friends after all. I'm after your man remember?" Melissa said smirking.

"That's right. I keep forgetting we're enemies now. You bitch! How was that?" Sarah asked matching Melissa's smirk.

"Much better. Now that that's out of the way I have to tell you that Chuck almost killed Ted Roark today." Melissa said sadly.

"He what? When was this?" Sarah asked sitting back down.

"You know how he downloaded all those files into his head right? Well one of them was a file about how Roark kidnapped Chuck's dad and later killed him. Chuck flashed on it in his sleep and when he got up he put on his vest and loaded it down with enough guns and ammo to kill everyone in the building. When I got up he was half way to the door looking like he was ready to fight all of Fulcrum by himself. I talked him down and got him to open up but I'm concerned about him. It's a lot to take in and process. I don't think it's really hit him yet, and if it has then I think he's holding a lot in because he knows how important the mission is. I think you two need to make up so you can talk to him about it." Melissa said.

"I agree. I need to fix things with him. I have no idea how he could even be in the same city as Roark let alone pretending to like him. It must be killing him." Sarah said.

"I guess it's on par with having his wife tell him he needs to tuck his tail between his legs and watch his tone when speaking to the great and powerful Enforcer." Melissa said smirking.

"You're never going to let me live that down are you?" Sarah asked smiling sadly.

Melissa shook her head gravely. "No, I'm afraid not." She got the words out before she broke. That set Sarah off and killed the tension in the room. "But in all seriousness I'm not going to stop reminding you of what you have because there are some very good women out there that would kill to have what you have, me included." Melissa said getting serious again.

"I know. And I'm going to do my best to fix this. I promise." Sarah said nodding.

"Good now we can go back out there and I can explain the information on that hard drive." Melissa said walking to the door. As she went for the button to open the door Alex opened it from the other side.

"You need to come quick. The General's on the conference screen and she needs to talk to you both!" Alex said in a rush.

They all jogged back to the conference room and took seats. "You needed to see us Ma'am." Sarah asked.

"Yes. I know you are short agent Carmichael at the moment but I wouldn't have called if it wasn't important. We just got word that Victor Sidorov is in Los Angles. For those of you that don't know Sidorov, he's a Russian arms dealer and former KGB Radical. He made a fortune selling stolen Russian military hardware to the highest bidder. He's sold old surplus AK47s to war lords and drug cartels the world over. Recently there's been a lot of chatter about the possibility of him having Russian nuclear warheads. He's staying at the Four Seasons at the moment and there are a few other major players in the area that he could be meeting with. The Mission is to find out who he's meeting with and what he's selling. If it's possible to do so with out drawing attention to your ongoing operation then we would like you to arrest him and anyone he's dealing with. Ideally if Agent Carmichael could follow Sidorov to the meeting and flash on the buyers we would have a better idea of what we're dealing with." Beckman said.

"Well ma'am we have a very strange situation with the on going mission. Chuck is a trusted member of Fulcrum and could easily slip out and shadow Sidorov. Especially if he takes one of our trusted agents in the Fulcrum organization with him to provide a cover story. But if Fulcrum is the interned buyer of what ever Sidorov is selling we have a very bad situation on our hands Ma'am." Sarah said.

"I agree Ma'am. Fulcrum trusts Chuck as much as they do me, but if Chuck is anywhere near a Fulcrum bust then his cover will be blown. With that being said I think we should get him involved Ma'am. He might have an idea about how we can pull this off without hurting the on going mission." Melissa said.

"I think we should just nab him and beat the crap out of him until he tells us everything we want Ma'am." Casey growled out.

"I think that can be a last ditch effort Major. I think we should talk to Chuck. Have him look over the files I just sent and get back to me when you have a plan in place. If he doesn't have something in six hours I'm signing an arrest and interrogation order for Sidorov. Major gather strike team one and tell them they could have a mission tonight. That is all, Dismissed." Beckman said sighing off.

Alex went to the computer and downloaded the files onto a flash drive and handed them to Melissa. "I'll run this by Chuck, and see what he has to say. Is there anything else you need Chuck to get? I know I said I was going to go over the data on the hard drive, but I think this takes precedent over that for now. Alex look over the files if you have any questions I'll be back tomorrow. I was sitting right next to him when he sifted through the files. I have no idea about anything in the Mission folder. That's all Chuck. I'll let him explain that to you guys." Melissa said gathering her things.

"Can you take this to Chuck and have him call me?" Sarah asked handing Melissa Chuck's iPhone. "Now that we're working for the government again we can use our secure phones. No one can trace them. We have access to the President's personal communications satellite." Sarah said.

"I'll make sure he talks to you. He really missies you very much." Melissa said quietly enough so that only Sarah could hear her.

"Thank you." Sarah said smiling.

"Walk me out?" Melissa asked.

Sarah nodded and followed Melissa up the stairs. When they got out side Melissa turned to Sarah and to the surprise of the blonde, she hugged her. "I came here for one reason. That was to get you, and Chuck talking again. That all starts with you admitting that, like the rest of us Chuck is more then he was before. He's Your loveable husband Chuck. He's also the man I take orders from, and gave me a second chance at this life of spies. He's also Charles Carmichael now. A man of action and planning. A true force to be rescanned with. Like you're Sarah Walker, and Sarah Bartowski, and The Enforcer. You have to respect the fact that with every passing day he's becoming your equal. Now he might not say it but the fact that you don't respect that hurts him. He starts to question his actions, and when he does that he's not thinking clearly. You know what happens to agents that can't keep there head in the game. They don't make it very long. And just like he's your connection to normalcy, you have always been his sources of confidence. Don't take it away from him when he needs it the most." Melissa said pulling away form Sarah.

"Your very wise when it comes to this stuff aren't you?" Sarah asked looking thoughtful.

"It's my Angle specialty. Jordan has wisdom that comes from working a very long time in this world of cloak and dagger. Sam is the muscles. She's like G.I. Angle. Kate's the cute Angle. She can get into anywhere with a smile and a bat of her eyelashes. As for me? I keep the group together, and everyone happy." Melissa said walking to her car.

"I know we said we weren't going to like each other, but I do. I'm glade to know you Melissa." Sarah said smiling.

Melissa winded down her window. "I still want your husband, but I'll keep my hands to myself, because I like you too." Melissa said driving off.

Sarah stood there smirking. She didn't know how to feel about Melissa. On the one hand she was jealous of her connection with Chuck. On the other hand she was glad she was around. She always seamed to know what the team needed. "Thank you Melissa for saying all that stuff, and for reminding me of not only who Chuck is now, but also who I am." Sarah said to herself as she walked back into the yogurt shop.

Chuck took a bite of the gray burger sitting in front of him. It did Not taste like a beef burger, but it didn't taste like cardboard either and that surprised him.

"Well, what do you think? Good right?" Jordan asked smiling.

Chuck didn't feel like hurting her feelings so he just nodded. "So how did you find this place?" Chuck asked looking around.

"My son took me here once. He's into health living like me. He dose the same workout I do every morning. He runs track at school too." Jordan said proudly.

"Do you get to see him? What's the cover story? I mean UCLA is not that far from here." Chuck asked.

"I see him about once a month. I told him I'm running intelligence gathering for Special Forces groups in Iraq. He thinks I'm living in D.C. if I do run into him on the street I'm supposed to tell him I'm here for work and that I can't talk about it. Thankfully I haven't had to use that line yet." Jordan said.

"It does sound a little weak. If he's half as smart as him mother then he's not going to believe that." Chuck said.

"He's smarter then me. He's close to graduating with a degree in computer engineering, and he's only 22. I'm so proud of him. He's my greatest achievement." Jordan said smiling.

"Does he know what he want's to do after he graduates?" Chuck asked.

"He wants to work for RI. He want's to build next generation computers. He's been working on a prototype for a while now. I don't know half of what he says when he talks about it, but I bet you two would hit it off really well." Jordan said.

"I hope so. If he's that good I want him to head up the new project Prometheus. I have this idea for a small powerful laptop. I want it to be light, small, and fast. I want it to be good for a verity of applications. I want it to also cost less then 250 bucks to make. I want him working on it when I take over the company." Chuck said excitedly.

"See that's what I'm talking about. I understood half of that." Jordan said laughing.

"I've got so many ideas that I want to try. I'm going to expand the R and D department. I want to give back to the world by making awesome computers and software, and I want to sell it as closest to cost as we can. I want to turn RI in to the company it should have been." Chuck said speaking a mile a minute.

"But if you did that how are you going to make money?" Jordan asked confused.

"We charge those that have more money more for our products. If a company places an order for a hundred PC towers today how much of a discount will they get?" Chuck asked munching on his not-a-burger.

"Depending on the company 15-20 percent." Jordan said.

"When I take over that's going to change. When you place a bulk order in the future you'll be charged more for buying in bulk. I'm going to call it the corporate charge. Not a lot but enough to offset the cost of selling just above cost to the public." Chuck said smirking.

"But they'll stop buying from you then." Jordan said scratching her head.

"Will they? If we make the best computer in the world can they really afford to not pay the price? What else can they do? Buy them from the store one at a time? You know that's not going to happen. Especially after the PR campaign I'm going to run explaining the reason we can sell the new Roark super book laptop to inner city schools so cheap is because of the support we get from the corporations that over pay for their orders. What company is going to find a way around the corporate charge and risk looking like assholes for not supporting poor kids? Think about the bad PR we can rain down on them for it. Can you imagine some one like Kate standing with a group of young kids holding laptops. 'we had to stop the computers for kids program because of so-and-so evil company. Because of them these kids wont get an education." Chuck said in a British accent. "Can you imagine the backlash for something like that? And after the first one the rest will pay whatever we ask. Think about it Jordan, every household with kids will have at lest one of our laptops, and when the parents help little Timmy with his homework and see how good the Super book is they'll go out and buy one, and then they'll tell their friends. And what celebrity wont over pay for a supper book to help the children? Come on, the good press will sell them faster then we'll be able to make them." Chuck said finishing his beer.

"OH MY GOD! It's genus! Why the hell aren't we doing something like that already?" Jordan asked looking at Chuck with awe.

"Because RI is run by a guy trying to fund a secret intelligence organization. If you cut the cost of running Fulcrum off the budget you suddenly have a lot more capital to bankroll something like this. I mean, sure we're going to fund the super team with RI money, but even if we grow three times in size it's still going to cost a hell of a lot less then Fulcrum. The amount of money he burned on building his Intersect is sickening. It's his white whale you know?" Chuck said as he called the waitress for the check.

"I know. I've seen some of the budget statements." Jordan said trying to take the check, but Chuck was faster.

Chuck was shocked by the total, but he figured eating at a nice place this close to beach came with a high price tag. He peeled off a hundred dollar bill and handed it to the waitress. "Keep the change." he said with a smile. The girl blushed and walked off smiling.

"And the Carmichael charm strikes again." Jordan said standing up smirking.

"What? Oh the waitress? She was like young enough to be my kid practically." Chuck said waving Jordan off.

"You really need to learn to control that smile of yours Chuck. You're going to get in trouble one day because of it." Jordan said as they got into the car.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. But I think I'm going to be in trouble if we don't get you back to Teddy soon. What's he doing without you there to look at all this time we've been gone?" Chuck asked.

"I'm not sure, and that's the scary part. With a guy like Roark you never know what he'll do next. I'm still surprised by the fact you can keep predicting his reactions." She said.

"Actually he's very predictable when it comes to me. He's obsessed with the Intersect, with it's potential for power. He sees me as a way of getting everything he ever wanted and more. He see me as the key to all that power. I can predict him because he thinks he's controlling me with you ladies. He thinks I'm an over sexed young computer nerd with a gun and a bad attitude. He thinks that you, Melissa, Sam and Kate are keeping me busy when I'm not diligently working in the basement of RI. And I do everything I can to fit that mold because that's what he's like. He's a sexual deviant nerd with a bad attitude. I can predict his moves because I'm playing the same part." Chuck said shrugging.

"Well you must play by different rules because you're noting like him." Jordan said.

"So you think. Around him I try to act just like him. Some of the things I've said to him make me sick to my stomach." Chuck said looking out the window. Chuck's Blackberry rang. "Hello?"

"Hey Chuck, I just got back from lunch and you're not in your office. Are you headed back soon I got something very important for you to look at." Melissa said pacing Chuck's white office.

"Yeah me and Jordan are on our way back right now. Is that very important something you wanted to show in your pants?" Chuck asked in a sexy voice.

"No why?" Melissa asked confused.

"Are you sure because you call me on my Work Cell to tell me you want me to look at something in the middle of the day after you tell me your going shopping." Chuck said hopping she would catch on.

Melissa looked at her phone confused for a second before it hit her. She called him on a phone that's being taped. She smiled at Chuck's quick thinking. He knew she screwed up and he was giving her an out. "Okay you got me. I stopped by Victoria's Secret and got you something. I'm keeping it warm for you." She said in a voice that made Chuck's pants uncomfortable.

"Well I look forward to dissert then. See you in ten minute." He said hanging up.

"Melissa?" Jordan asked smiling.

"Yeah, she just got back from Castle and I think they have something important for me. I'm guessing it has to do with the mission. Can you come down with me to see what it is? I would love to hear your thoughts on whatever it is." Chuck said.

"Why? It's not like I know anything you don't." Jordan said confused.

"No but you have years of experience. Something I don't have yet. You're my Wise Angle after all." Chuck said smirking.

"There you go calling me old again." She said laughing.

"Me? Call you old? Never!" Chuck said waving her off that set them both off laughing.

When they walked into Chuck's office they found Melissa sitting in Chuck's chair looking at something on his laptop. "No, by all means, make yourself comfortable in my chair. Play with my laptop too. Would you like me to get you anything to drink?" Chuck asked with a smile.

"Yes I would like you to get your ass over here and look at this. Beckman called while I was there, she has a urgent mission for you." Melissa said.

"What are we looking at?" Chuck asked pulling Melissa out of his chair.

He sat down and she sat in his lap. "This Russian arms dealer named Victor Sidorov…" Melissa stopped talking when Chuck started flashing.

"Victor Sidorov, born in Moscow. Joined the KGB at age 18. In 1987 after the cold war ended he quit the KGB and joined a radical off-shoot group that pledged to bring glory to Mother Russia. When the group leaders were arrested the rest of them scattered. Sidorov has spent the last twenty years selling surplus soviet weapons on the black market. He's a really bad dude. He's here in L.A.?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah he's staying at the Four Seasons. Beckman has his phone tapped. She thinks he's here to make a sale. She said she would like you to follow him around and find out who he's meeting. She also said it would be great if you could arrest him and the buyer." Melissa said thinking back to the briefing she just came from.

"So the General wants me to shadow Sidorov to the buy and bust them?" Chuck asked looking over the file.

"In a nut shell." Melissa nodded.

"Jordan, I'm guessing you know this guy?" Chuck asked looking up from his laptop.

"I know him, he's a real asshole. I was part of a team that tried to get him about six years ago. We caught the buyer but he slipped away. We lost two agents that night. Victor doesn't play around. If he thinks he's cornered he'll shoot it out." Jordan said staring off into space.

"Is there anything you can tell me that this file doesn't have in it?" Chuck asked turning the laptop to face Jordan. She flicked through the file for a few minutes but she shook her head.

"No, this looks like the same file we were working off of six years ago, just updated. There is someone that could tell you a lot more about Victor, but Sam's not here right now, and I don't know what kind of mission you have her on. She tracked him down for the Russians on a joint taskforce I think. I remember we talked about Victor before." Jordan said shrugging.

"Sam's in D.C. looking for an agent I want on the team." Chuck said pulling out a burn phone.

"Actually you don't have to use those anymore. Sarah said you can use this again." She said handing him his iPhone.

"Oh my baby! I've missed you so much! I've had to remember phone numbers again, it sucks." Chuck said caressing his iPhone.

"Should we leave you two alone?" Jordan asked smirking.

"Hey, you don't know what it's like for a geek to be separated from his tech." Chuck said indigently.

"Whatever nerd." Jordan said laughing.

"Don't you have a phone call to make?" Melissa asked trying to get them back on task.

"Yeah, I hope she's done with her mission already. If not we're going to have to wait. She's supposed to lay low with Carina." Chuck said pulling up Carina's number.

"Hey Chucky." Carina answered.

Chuck palmed his face. "Is Sam there?" Chuck asked exasperated. He was sure no one in the world could make his head hurt fast then Carina.

"Hello to you too. What I'm not good enough now? Need I remind you that you called my phone?" Carina asked.

"Carina, this is national security important. Can you put Sam on please?" Chuck asked in a voice full of authority.

"Yeah she's right here. What's going on Chuck?" Carina asked in full agent mode.

"Are you home?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah."

"Put the phone on speaker." Chuck said doing the same.

"Okay, your on with both of us, what's going on Chuck?" Carina asked.

"Victor Sidorov is here in L.A., he just got here last night. He's by himself. Beckman thinks he's here to make a sale. She want's me to shadow him and bust the meeting. I wanted to ask my expert on all things Red related what she knew about Victor." Chuck said.

"I'm not surprised he's alone. He usually is. He has trust issues. If he's here in the US then it's important. He would never risk a trip here unless the payout was huge." Sam said.

"Can you tell me anything about him personally?" Chuck asked.

"Well I know a lot, what are you looking for?" Sam asked.

"Give me the dating profile summery." Chuck said scratching his chin.

"Victor Sidorov, 41 years old. Tall and thin. He is in very good shape and he knows hand to hand combat. He's good with a knife, but better with a gun. He's from money so he's cultured. He likes opera, and fine wine. He owns a string of five star restaurants across Europe through a ghost company. He like's fine suits and expensive watches. Like any other man he's got a soft spot for the ladies. Beside that I've got nothing.

"So he's like Carmichael, just older and Russian?" Chuck asked looking around.

"I can see the similarities." Sam said.

"In your opinion, Agent Glass, would the honey pot work with Victor?" Chuck asked smiling.

"It would but you would have to send someone like Walker or Melissa. He like's them tall and leggy." Sam said.

"Send me in Charlie, I'll have him talking before the first course." Melissa said smirking and sticking out her impressive chest.

"I would love to send you my head Angle, but I'm thinking this would be a good opportunity for Kate to get her head back in the game. She needs to remember what seduction is all about. True seduction, not taking your top off and getting into bed with your mark." Chuck said looking at Melissa with a smirk.

"Hey! I know how to work someone now. Ask Jordan, she'll tell you." Melissa said pointing at the blushing older woman sitting in front of them.

"She don't count, she's way too easy to seduce. I had her panting this morning without even trying. Besides Kate was trained to do this kind of thing. Not that the CIA gave her a chance to really use it. I think this can be a way to show her she's more then a play thing. Remember how good it felt when I gave you your first mission? Remember how powerful you felt? Don't you want Kate to feel that way too?" Chuck asked Melissa.

"Of course I do. She needs it too. She's feeling so low right now. I can see it in her eyes. I'm just worried about her." Melissa said.

"I think she can do it. One look at her baby blues and a glance down her top and you'll have to peal Sidorov off the floor." Sam said.

"I think it's the accent that's going to get him personally. It's what stopped me dead in my tracks the first time I met her." Chuck said smiling.

"I agree, but I think you should have lots of backup." Jordan said.

"I need to talk to Sarah and Casey. I'll talk to you later Sam." Chuck said reaching for his iPhone on his desk. But Melissa got to it first.

"There's a white gold Angle waiting for you when you get back Sam. Thanks for killing the surprise by the way." Melissa said laughing.

"I'm so sorry about that." Sam said.

"It's okay. Chuck knows now and he's happy with it. Jordan has her Angle too. I think Chuck should give Kate her Angle tonight after the mission. Then you're the last one to get yours. Call it punishment for ruining the surprise." Melissa said.

"Not cool. I'll see you tomorrow night." Sam said hanging up.

Melissa handed Chuck his phone back and retook her seat in his lap. Chuck just smiled and shook his head. He called Sarah.

"Chuck I love you and I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. I didn't mean it and I want you to know I love you and respect you. I also know you're the team leader on this mission and I'm going to work really hard at trying to share the spot light with you, and not push you aside." Sarah said in a rush.

"Wow! Slow down Sarah. I love you too. And I know you love me and respect me. I'm not even mad about yesterday. I know you're just worried about me. If the situation was reversed I would be worried too. Whatever gave you the idea that I was hurt by what you said yesterday?" Chuck asked.

"Melissa came by today and she told me some things I needed to hear. She said I'm married to the best guy in the world and I needed to treat you better. She's right you know. I need to start treating you like an equal when it comes to this spy stuff. You're my husband and my partner. She also reminded me that I'm not the only woman that loves you. She kindly reminded me that there's a whole line of women waiting to get a crack at you, and she's the first one in line." Sarah said laughing.

"Well she is my head Angle after all." Chuck said smiling exasperatedly at Melissa. Melissa, looked away pretending she couldn't hear what was said over the phone but her blush was evidence enough.

"Yeah about that, are you building a harem over there Chuck?" Sarah asked laughing.

"No, I most certainly am not, but Melissa is I think." Chuck laughed out making Melissa turn bright red.

"We are not your harem, we are your team. We work for you, that's all." Melissa said getting off Chuck's lap.

"Was that Melissa?" Sarah asked smirking.

"Yes, it was. She was sitting on my lap just a second ago." Chuck said.

"Really? Does that happen a lot? Her sitting on your lap?" Sarah asked angrily.

She was expecting Chuck to get flustered and try to back peddle. What she wasn't prepared for was Chuck's casual, "Yeah it does. I think Melissa's part cat or something. She's really into touching. Not in a sexual way, but in a lap sitting cuddly type of way. I think it's kind of cute." Chuck said smiling at Melissa.

"Really? Wow that's a little strange. I mean to be that touchy feely with someone don't you think?" Sarah asked finding the whole situation not that funny anymore.

"I don't know? Some people are very tactile with their friends I guess?" Chuck said sitting up. He realized they were headed towards the argument zone at ramming speed and he didn't know what he did.

"So you would have no problem with me being more tactile with My guy friends then?" Sarah asked with an edge to her voice.

"No, I mean you'd actually have to open up and make friends first but…" Chuck knew he messed up the second the words left his mouth, he didn't even mean it like it came out. He just meant she wasn't a very open person. Not that he minded. He knew this. He didn't care. It's not like he wasn't supplying most of the emotion of the relationship for the past year and a half. But he said the words and like having an egg slip out of your hand he was going to have a real mess to try and clean up.

"So now I'm the problem? It's my fault that you have that red headed Whore crawling all over you? Is that what your saying Chuck?" She half yelled, half asked.

He cupped the phone and looked at Jordan and Melissa. "Can you guys give me the room please? I'll tell you the plan later."

Melissa nodded and pulled Jordan out of the room. "Okay Chuck." She said with a guilty look on her face.

Chuck sighed. He knew it was a rhetorical question, but he knew that if he left her hanging any longer she would get even more mad at him. "No that's not what I'm saying and I don't think it's very nice of you to use that word to talk about Melissa."

"I'll say whatever the hell I want about the bitch spending every waking moment trying to get into your pants! As for your cool and care free attitude, I think if the tables were turned you'd be freaked out and whining like a child about it!" Sarah yelled.

"I think I've seen you do a lot more then sit in somebody's lap, and I still stuck around so you need to take two steps back and think about your next words very carefully. We're having a full blown argument over nothing right now." Chuck said wiping his hand over his face.

"I think I'm justified. I also think it's funny that you can take the moral high ground. You spent the last week with how many women? You've become quite the ladies man Chuck. I'm very proud of you. You went from professing your undying love for me to fucking how many women?" Sarah asked sarcastically.

"You know damn well I didn't have sex with any of these women. You know most of this shit is for the cover. You know the shit you always tell me? Oh Chuck I'm just flirting with that guy at the bar for the cover, or I'm just dry humping that guy over there for the cover. I'm just stripping down to my see through underwear for the cover." Chuck said mocking her. But then he pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it like he never saw it before. Why was he doing this? Why was he fighting with Sarah? Why was he fighting with his wife?

"If that's the way you feel then I think we need to…" 

"NO! No don't finish that sentence. What the hell are we fighting about? What are we doing Sarah? I love you. I know you love me. Why are we fighting for? What started this? You called me to tell me you love me. How did we get here? How did we get to the brink of divorce that fast?" Chuck asked sitting in his chair and slumping forwards.

"I… I'm not sure? Chuck what's going on?" Sarah asked sitting in one of the chairs in the interrogation room she was in.

"Okay. I want you to try something for me. Take out my ring and hold it in your hand." Chuck said pulling Sarah's ring out and looking at it.

"Okay." she said holding the platinum band in her hand.

"Do you remember our wedding?" Chuck asked laughing nostalgically.

"Of course I do. It was a week ago." Sarah said confused.

"Work with me here Sarah. Think about it like it's a distant memory. Look back at that night like it was 50 years ago, not 6 days ago. We're just two old people sitting on a park bench trying to remember. Come on Sarah picture it please." Chuck pleaded.

"Okay Chuck. I'm remembering it." She said exasperatedly.

"No your not. Lets try this another way. Remember the first time we met? I was standing behind the Nerd Herd desk, and Morgan was talking to me. He spotted you first that day you know?" Chuck asked smiling.

"I know. I saw the look in his little eyes when I came through the door." Sarah said laughing softly.

"I still remember what he said to me. Stop the presses, is that Vicky Vale?" Chuck said aping his little friend.

"I remember walking into the Buy More thinking about how easy this was going to be. A single, computer nerd, living with his sister? Please. But when you dropped that phone and looked at me with those kind brown eyes I lost all of my edge. I didn't want this to be easy. I didn't want it to be quick and easy and be on to the next mission." Sarah said softly.

"Well I didn't really know what to do when you walked up. I knew one thing though. I knew not to even think about you, don't even look at you. Because It was never going to happen. Girls like you don't go for guys like me. We don't get the prom queen. This is not some John Hues movie. The hot girl is never going to even look at you twice. I was glad that guy came in with his daughter. It was the distraction I needed. I could get out of the range of that pretty white smile." Chuck said pulling his tie lose.

"When he walked up I was disappointed. I was so close to getting your full attention. You had just stopped rambling, and you were calming down. Then he showed up with that cute little girl. Chuck there has never been a man that made me think about the future like you did that day talking to that little girl. I knew I was looking at a man that was going to father my children. I saw you tell that little girl that ballerinas were tall, but I also saw you putting Band-Aids on scraped knees and kissing away fake booboos. I've never thought about life after my service was over, but for a brief second I was transported somewhere else." Sarah said as a tear ran down her cheek.

"When you left your card I didn't know what to do. I knew my odds of being with you were slim to none, but when you walked in the next day my heart almost stopped. At that moment I knew I had to do everything I could to see you again the next day, and the day after that, and the next. I knew I had to try my hardest to make that a reality. I knew I was looking at a Goddess, and she came looking for me? Me? Chuck the Nerd Herder? The whole time I was getting dressed I was waiting for a phone call. I was waiting for you to tell me that you came to your senses and the date was off. I even took my time driving to your hotel. I was postponing the rejection." Chuck said playing with her ring.

"What rejection? I was trying very hard to stay on task. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to hurt you. I knew it the second I met you." Sarah said sadly.

"How did we go from that first meeting to where we are now? How did we go from love at first sight to a few words away from divorce? If it's something I did then I'll fix it. I swear to you Sarah I'll do anything to fix this." Chuck said close to breaking down.

"I don't know Chuck. I don't know. It seams like every time we talk on the phone we end up fighting. I don't want to fight with you Chuck." Sarah said lost.

"I think I know what's wrong. I think your threatened by Carmichael. I think you think that if I'm Carmichael then I don't need Sarah Walker, and you know what? Your right. Charles Carmichael could walk into a bar and walk out with any woman in the place. He's cool. He's confident, and most of all he's a predator. He takes what he wants. But so does Agent Walker. For a long time I was very insecure about the fact that I was just Chuck and I was with Sarah Walker CIA Agent and sexy lady. I knew that one day you would be on a mission with some James Bond type and I would never see you again. You'd run off to be with someone just like you. It took me a long time to realize that wasn't going to happen. It took me until about a week ago really, but for a long time I was just counting the days till the end. Now I think the shoe is on the other foot. You're with Carmichael now, and you think I'm going to run off with another woman. You think I'll wise up and see your not good enough for me. You think Melissa's going to be sitting on my lap one day and I'm going to look at her the same way I look at you. That I'm going to fall for her and run off with her. You can see it in your head. You can see us in bed together, or on a plan headed someplace hot. I know you can see it because I saw it for a very long time. Every time Bryce showed up. Every time you flirted with a mark. Every time you looked at a good looking guy checking you out when we were on cover dates. I saw it in sharp detail. My brain was my very worst enemy. Now it's your turn. The saddest part about the whole thing is there's nothing I can say to you that will make the doubt go away. Nothing to stop the nightmares from plaguing your daydreams. You have to find your talisman. Your shield against the bad thoughts, because no matter what I say, you'll have these thoughts in the back of your head." Chuck said.

"How did you? I mean I didn't even know until you said it but you're right. What's your talisman?" Sarah asked softly.

"It's two things. One is in your hands right now." Chuck said looking at her ring.

"Your ring?" She asked.

"It's not just my ring it's what's inside of my ring. It's a promise. It's a vow. And it's a symbol of how much I love you." Chuck said smiling.

"Always." Sarah said softly looking at the inscription.

"That's right. I know you put that ring on my finger and said your vows to me and I knew you were sticking around for good." Chuck said.

"What's the other thing?" Sarah said clutching his ring.

"What?" Chuck asked.

"You heard me. What's the other thing? You said it was two things. What's the other talisman?" Sarah asked.

"It's nothing. So you want to talk about the plan to get Sidorov?" Chuck asked trying to change the subject.

"I don't think so Chuck. What's the other thing?" Sarah asked.

"Look, I'll tell you if you promise me that you wont laugh at me. I don't think I can take that." Chuck said sighing.

"I'm not promising nothing. Spill." She said smiling.

"Okay, it's my gun." Chuck said.

"Your gun?" She asked confused.

"Yeah it's my gun, now can we talk about something else?" He asked.

"How is your gun a symbol of me not leaving you?" She asked.

"Fine I'll tell you. The gun's not a symbol of you not leaving me it's the symbol of Charles Carmichael. Carmichael is my other talisman." Chuck said blushing.

"I still don't get it. Carmichael is your talisman?" She asked.

"Well he's more of a back up plan. The gun makes the agent. Just like Bond has the PPKs I have the Sig229. I use it as a prop to get into character. I put on an expensive suit and tuck my gun in my back and I'm Charles Carmichael, CIA spy and world class lover. I figure, If Carmichael can get any woman in the world then he can get Agent Sarah Walker. If you ever drifted away from me. If you ever met someone you were attracted to more then me I could always turn on the charm and get you back. Because if your going to leave me, Chuck, for someone else then Carmichael could get you back. He's everything Agent Walker wants. If Agent Walker ever got tired of Chuck and started looking for something else Carmichael could be that something else. If Agent Walker ever wants excitement, and danger Charles Carmichael would always be there to show her a good time." Chuck said with his Carmichael confidence and sexy voice.

"Oh my god. You really know how to get me going don't you?" She said blushing.

"Like I said it's knowing I could get you back that gave me the confidence to drive away the bad dreams. You just have to find your symbol. I can't tell you what it is but once you find it. You can tell me." Chuck said.

"I will. I'll start looking." She said.

"Don't try too hard you'll never find it that way. It has to just happen. Like it did with me. Now as for the mission tonight. I have a plan that I think will work out well for everybody." Chuck said looking at his computer.

"Really? What have you got?" Sarah asked smiling.

"All I'm going to say for now is I hope you have a hostess outfit because your attitude lately has been very bad young lady." Chuck said in his most charming voice.

"Well I think I'm going to need a spanking then." Sarah said matching him.

"I'll see you in two hours. I'll bring my team with me. Can you have someone pick us up outside of Roark Towers in a limo or something? My cover is going to be a date with Melissa and Kate." Chuck said.

"A date with two girls?" Sarah asked.

"It's the only way to get most of the team out, I also have a reputation to uphold." Chuck said defensively.

"Hey I didn't say anything. I'll see you later, and we can talk face to face." Sarah said.

"I look forward to it." Chuck said smiling.


	20. Chapter 20

Chuck looked at the clock on the dashboard. 7:30 PM. He looked across the street at the upscale restaurant and smiled when he spotted Sarah through the window standing at the door. She was playing hostess for the evening. He shook his head thinking about how easy it was to get the owner of the restaurant to let Sarah sub in for the hostess, and for Alex to play the bar tender. It did cost them ten grand but for that price they had six agents posing as guest stationed around the place and two team members playing key roles on the staff. If everything went according to plan they would have Sidorov back at Castle in a holding cell by the end of the night.

Looking at Sarah reminded him of the half hour they spent in holding cell three. He always thought the sex with Sarah was amazing, but the make up sex they had before the mission was something else. He didn't know if it was the fact that they came so close to the end, or because this was their first real fight as a married couple. What ever it was it was extreme. They had sat across from each other throughout the briefing tossing looks back and forth. When Chuck finished laying out his plan everyone broke up to do their jobs but Chuck and Sarah stayed seated. "I noticed we didn't have any prep work to do for this mission. Was that on purpose?" Sarah asked smiling shyly.

"Maybe?" Chuck said with a little smirk.

"Well since we have some time I was wondering if I could show you something in holding cell three?" Sarah asked standing up.

"I've got some time. Lets go now." Chuck said following her out of the conference room and down the hall. Sarah was wearing a white top, tight black skirt, and a pair of high heeled black pumps. The uniform of the restaurant Sidorov made his reservations for that night. As she walked Chuck noticed she put an extra little wiggle in her step that was holding Chuck's full attention. She stopped by the holding cell at the very end of the dark hallway and waved him in first. Chuck walked to the center of the room and turned around only to have Sarah grab the collar of his suit jacket and smash her moth on his in a frantic kiss. Chuck grabbed a fist full of her blond hair and pulled her back enough to gain access to her neck and the spot that drove her nuts. He roughly grab a hand full of her ass with his left hand and squeezed as he sucked her neck making her thrash around and moan. She pushed him back and pushed his jacket off. She pulled his tie lose and ripped his shirt open sending buttons everywhere. Chuck pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside and as he attacked her right nipple through the flimsy silk of her white bra. She spun him around and tossed him onto the cot in the cell and sat on his chest. She took his tie and fastened it around his right wrist. She fed it through the metal loop on the wall and tied his other wrist. She stood up and locked eyes with him as she unclasped her bra and let it fall to the ground. She turned around and slowly pulled the zipper down on her skirt. She let it pool around her ankles and smiled when she heard Chuck's breath quicken at the sight of her matching white thong and her throwing knife sheath around her thigh. She walked around him and pulled off his shoes. She danced back around to his side and unbuckled his belt. She made sure he was watching her every move as she pulled off his pants leaving him in his black silk boxers. She climbed up onto his chest and leaned over him.

"Is this for me Chuck?" She asked in a moan as her hand fond his hardness through his boxers.

"It always is." He growled out as she shifted her weight grinding her firm tits on his chest.

"Good. Because I've been in need of it since I left that hotel room." She said pulling him out of his boxers. "I need it so bad Chuck." She said panting. "I wanted to take some time pleasing you but I need it so bad." She whispered before she bit his ear lobe.

"If you need it so bad then take it. Take what's yours." Chuck said thrusting against her.

Pulling the small strip of silk to the side she sank down on him causing them both to moan. "Oh god it's so good." she sighed rocking her hips.

Chuck strained against the tie trying to thrust into her harder. He growled as he slammed into her center making her call out in pleasure. She hugged her arms around his neck as she trusted back just as hard. Chuck bit her shoulder as he used every ounce of strength he had to thrust into her harder and faster. She ran her nails across his chest as she lost herself to the pleasure he was giving her. As her climax approached she grabbed his hair and kissed him needy. She screamed into his mouth as she came. Chuck followed after her. Sarah broke the kiss and looked at Chuck with tears pooling in her eyes. "I love you so much." She said softly.

"I love you more. Now cut the tie so I can hold my wife." Chuck said wrapping his legs around her. Sarah pulled the throwing knife from her thigh and cut the tie. Chuck arms wrapped around her and he rolled them over. He started moving again. This time very slowly. Each thrust was painfully slow but Sarah had never felt more connected to anyone in her whole life. She buried her face in his neck and sobbed as they moved slowly towards their second climax. When it hit Chuck kissed her neck softly and rolled them back over and pulled the sheet over them. They dozed off for a few minutes before there was a knock at the door. Chuck looked over and saw Melissa smiling and giving him the thumbs up. Chuck closed his eyes and blushed.

"Who's there?" Sarah asked.

"Melissa. She's giving me the thumbs up." Chuck said mortified.

"What does she want?" Sarah asked lifting her head off his chest.

"I'm not sure." Chuck said.

Sarah wrapped the sheet around her chest and sat up in Chuck's lap. She waved Melissa in. Melissa opened the door, but stayed in the hallway. "What do you need Melissa?" Sarah asked combing her fingers through her disheveled hair.

"Major Casey sent me to tell you we have an hour to go before we leave and you might want to take a shower before we go." Melissa said smirking.

"Thank you Melissa. Tell Casey we'll get moving." Sarah said.

"I can do that. While you guys get cleaned up I'll head over to the large mart and pick up a new shirt and tie for Chuck. Do you need anything Sarah?" Melissa asked picking Chuck's button-less shirt up off the ground with a smirk.

"No I think I'm all good, but thanks for asking." Sarah said blushing.

"Thank you Melissa." Chuck said covering his red face with his right arm.

"No problem Chuck. I'm always happy to help. May I also say good job Sarah." She said pointing to the shredded red tie around Chuck's wrist.

Sarah looked at the tie and Chuck's red face and laughed. "Thanks Melissa." Sarah said shooing her out of the room. When they were alone again Sarah leaned over and kissed Chuck. "Want to help me wash my back?" Sarah said smiling.

"You know I do." Chuck said sitting up. Sarah laughed. "What's so funny?" Chuck asked.

"Your hair is all sticking up at funny Angels." Sarah said. When Chuck tried to fix it Sarah laughed harder, and grabbed the red tie around his right wrist. "I Don't know what got into me with the whole tie thing." She said blushing. She cut it off his wrist and saw the bruises around his wrist. "Oh Chuck. Look at your wrist. Dose it hurt?" She asked feeling for broken bones.

"No, I doesn't hurt. Dose that hurt?" He asked pointing to the bite mark on her right shoulder.

"No, not really." Sarah said standing up.

"Lets hit the shower." Chuck said standing up and stretching. "I think I pulled something in my thigh." Chuck said flexing his leg.

"Lets go. I'll massage it in the shower for you." Sarah said taking him by the hand and leading him off in the direction of the shower room.

"What are we waiting for?" Kate asked bring Chuck back to the present.

He looked at the clock on the dashboard. "Sidorov has dinner reservations at 8:30 PM. When he gets here and Sarah will seat him at the bar then you can go in." Chuck said looking at her he saw she was fidgeting. "You okay with this? We can go with plan B you know? You don't have to do this if you don't want to. Sarah has a dress in the van. She can do it and Casey can man her position at the door." Chuck said.

"No. If I want to be an Angel like Jordan and Melissa then I have to put this training to use. It's just been a while since I've used Seduction instead of just Sex. I'm afraid I'm a bit rusty." She said playing with the strap of her purse.

"Well we have some time before he gets here why don't you practice on me?" Chuck asked.

"I don't know. I guess." She said blushing.

"Remember, the key is to make him think he's going to get what he want's, and not to give it to him." Chuck said before turning around in his seat. When he turned back he had a neutral expression on his face. "Hello, my name is Victor. What is yours?" Chuck asked in a thick Russian accent.

"I'm Kate." She said putting on a big innocent smile. "I like your accent. What is it?" She asked sliding closer to him.

"Russian." Chuck replied looking down her very low cut red dress.

"Really? I love Russia. I always wanted to go there. I'm from London myself. I'm here on business. Are you here on business too Victor?" She asked touching Chuck's shoulder.

"Yes. I am." Chuck said getting lost in Kate sparkling blue eyes.

"I'm a sales rep. from a cosmetics company. What do you do Victor?" She asked leaning in to him and playing with his new red tie.

"I'm in sales too." Chuck said dumbly. At this point even though he knew what she was doing he was totally lost to her. Between her intoxicating flowery perfume, her cleavage, and her smile he would have told her anything she wanted to know. He saw her smile took on a predatory gleam and her shoulders straitened out.

"Well Victor, why don't you buy me a drink and you can tell me all about it." She said rubbing her chest into his shoulder as she leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Okay." Chuck said lost.

Chuck heard a crack over his ear piece. "Chuck, Melissa just checked in. Sidorov just got into his car now. ETA thirty minutes." Casey said.

"Copy that Casey ETA thirty minutes from go time." Chuck looked at Kate and saw she had a confident smile on her face. "I take it you're ready now?" Chuck asked smiling.

"I am. Thank you so much Chuck. Thank you for the opportunity to be a real agent again, and for helping me get over the jitters. I want to be an Angel like the other." She said.

"You already are. Tonight when this is all over I want you to come up to our apartment. Melissa has something for you." Chuck said smiling.

"Really!?" She asked excited.

"Yes really. There was never any doubt about you joining the team. I just wanted to make sure you knew you belonged first. I think you're ready now." Chuck said confidently.

"Are you sure? What if I bullocks this all up?" Kate asked looking unsure again.

"You're going to be my insecure Angel aren't you?" Chuck asked pulling her into a hug.

"It's just I've never been taken seriously. I've never been on real a mission before." She said.

"Neither have I, and I seam to be doing just fine. Now I want you to get yourself together and calm down. You're one of the most stunningly beautiful woman I've ever seen. Victor has no idea what's waiting for him. He's going to be falling over himself to tell you all of his dirty little secrets. When he get's here I want you to walk in to that restaurant. Step right up to him and hit him with the look you just gave me a few minutes ago. I want you to own him. I want you to twist him around your little finger so tight his only thoughts are going to be the ones you want him to think. I want you to take ever ounce of his will away and when he's given you everything he has I want you to get up from the table and never look back. I want the last image he sees before Casey hauls him away to be what he thought he was going to get. I want him so messed up mentally and emotionally that he keeps talking just for the opportunity to see you again. This ass hole make millions selling surplus AK47's to war lords all over the globe. He has more blood on his hands then most dictators." Chuck said confidently as he held her gaze.

She was hypnotized by his eyes and his soothing voice. A shiver ran up her spine as his words registered in her mind. Her doubts slipped away, and were replace by a will of iron. She was given a second chance to be an agent and she was going to take it. She was going to try her hardest to be the very best she could be. She was an Angel now. She needed to start acting like it.

Chuck saw the moment she changed. She lost her look of uncertainty. She rolled her neck and straitened out her spine and pushed her chest out. She took a deep breath and her smile gained that predatorily edge he saw when she was working him over. When she turned around to look him in the eye he met for the first time Agent Kathrin Brown, and boy was she something to look at. When she saw him looking at her she laughed.

"See something you like Charlie?" She asked with a confident little smirk.

"Yes. I see one of my Angels. The perfect package of Stunning and Deadly. A predator in it's truest form." Chuck said honestly.

"Thank you Chuck." Kate said hugging him.

Chuck was about to say it was just the truth, but he saw something out of the corner of his eye that stopped him in his tracks. He saw a girl that looked like she was about 19. She was wearing a little black cocktail dress. She had long straight black hair. She was very pretty, but it was her eyes that stopped him in his tracks. They were so light blue they looked white. It was also the thing that caused him to flash. Her name was Anastasia Volok. She was acutely 22 years old. Normally someone that young would be on their first mission, but Anastasia was a nine year veteran. She was the lone survivor of a program called: Krasnyi Detyei or The Red Children. A rouge KGB cell program created at the end of the Cold War. The idea was to take orphans that showed some aptitude, and turn them into KGB Assassins. No one expects a 12 year old assassin after all. The Russian government put an end to the program, but they ended up with a dilemma what do you do with a group of highly skilled killers under the age of 15? The answer was simple, use them like they were intended. Anastasia was one of the nine that made it through training, and now she was the lone survivor. The only one still left. She was not only alive, Chuck had to amend, she was good. She was so good she was Russia's top assassin. For her to be here meant just one thing. She was here to kill Victor. Chuck thought about this new element in the plan. What was he going to do with Volok? The answer was blindingly clear, but could he do it quickly? The answer was, he had to. He pulled back from Kate smiling. If she had been Sarah, or Melissa she would have known something was wrong, but Kate was blissfully unaware of this new problem.

"I'm going to scout the perimeter. I want you to sit back and relax until Sarah calls out Victor's entrance." Chuck said pulling his jacket off the back seat.

"Okay Chuck." She said smiling.

Chuck got out of the car and pulled his jacket on. He opened the trunk of the white Pontiac G6 he was using for this mission and found the bag Casey put back there. He reached in and pulled out a tranq gun. He ejected the mag and pulled a dart out. He put it in his jacket pocket. He looked at the gun, It was just small enough to be tucked it into his pants pocket with out being noticeable. So he did. He pulled his Sig229 out and attached a silencer. He tucked it away and covered it with his jacket. He walked into the restaurant and located Anastasia at the bar. When Sarah saw him her eyes got big and a scowl formed on her face. He walked right up to her. "Reservation for two, the Name is Carmichael. I'm meeting someone for dinner. She's about five foot tall. Long black hair, light blue eyes and a Russian accent. She goes by the name Anastasia Volok. Oh never mind I see her by the bar. Wow would you look at her in that dress, SHES A REAL KILLER." Chuck said putting emphasis on the last part of his sentence.

Sarah looked at Volok and her eyes got big. She looked back at Chuck. "What are you going to do about that?" She asked playfully, but the panic was still evident in her voice.

"I'm going to try playing hard to get, I've got a friend that's going to call me in a minute and I'm going to ignore her. That usual makes them interested. If that doesn't work I'm going to give her the old Carmichael charm." Chuck said smiling holding up his iPhone.

"Are you sure? She looks like a lot of woman for you to handle." Sarah said.

"Well I'm very confident about the firepower in my pants if you know what I mean. She's in for a real shock when I pull it out." Chuck said lecherously. But the message was clear. Chuck was packing and he knew what he was doing. "Don't seat us too quickly. We might not make it past the bar." Chuck said nodding.

Sarah looked him in the eye and gave a small nod. Chuck walked over to the bar and took a seat three stools away from Volok. He adopted a thick Russian accent, and asked for a shot of vodka. Alex looked at him with a questioning look and he gave a small nod. She pulled the bottle off the shelf and poured him a shot. Chuck stood up and looked Volok dead in the eye. "Za Prekrasnih dam!" (For Beautiful ladies!) and tossed back the shot. His years of binge drinking back at Stanford stopped the funny face from happening. He turned back to Alex and waved for another one. She poured it he tossed it back. He waved for another. "The Vodka in this country is so weak. I'm meeting a friend of mine, to talk business. Do you have something stronger?" He asked Alex.

"No I don't." Alex said.

"Oh well. Hit me again." He said. Alex poured and Chuck was about to pick it up when his phone rang. He pulled it out and ended the call before put it to his ear. He paused and looked to make sure Volok was watching. In Russian he said, "Victor my friend! What do you mean we're not meeting today? Tomorrow? Yes I can meet you tomorrow. The Four Seasons in Burbank? Noon? Yes I can make it." He saw Volok's face cloud over with a frown. He put his phone away and palmed the tranq dart. He tossed back his shot, and looked at Anastasia. "Well it look's like I'm dining alone tonight. Are you alone as well?" He asked her.

"Da." She said draining her martini glass.

"My name is Alexi Romanov." Chuck said holding out his hand. When she put her right hand in his Chuck brought his left hand up and placed it on top of hers, jabbing her with the tranq dart. Almost instantly her eyes drooped. Chuck stood up, slung his right arm around her shoulder and held her upright as she drifted off slowly. He walked her out the back door Weekend at Bernie's style. When he got her out the back door she started to come to. She elbowed him in the chin and kneed him in the ribs. Chuck dropped her, and she kicked him in the shin with her stiletto high heel shoe. She got to her knees and pulled a knife from her purse. Chuck pulled the tranq gun out and shot her in the chest. She dropped to the ground. Casey pulled the van around and jumped out. When he saw Chuck holding the tranq gun on the unconscious girl he laughed.

"I think you got her Chuck." He said walking over to Volok.

"NO WAIT! She could be faking. She was with me. I got her outside and she started to hit me. She pulled a knife too." Chuck said pointing to the switchblade on the ground.

"Really? How many darts did you hit her with?" Casey asked looking at the tiny girl.

"I stuck her with one in the bar but she shook it off like it was nothing. Then I shot her once." Chuck said still keeping the tranq gun trained on her.

"Shit! That's .4 milligrams Chuck. You could kill her with that much. She can't weight more then 90lbs." Casey said. He bent over to see if she was still breathing and her fist connected with his nose breaking it. As Casey fell back a knife shot out of the front of her high heel shoe, and she jabbed it into his thigh sending him to the ground bleeding from the face and leg. "God Damn It! SHOOT HER AGAIN!" Casey yelled pulling the small broken off knife blade out of his leg.

Chuck laughed as he shot her again. "I told you she was strong." Chuck said walking over to the van. He opened the side door and pulled a set of zip tie hand cuffs off the wall. He grabbed her still struggling arms and put them behind her back. He cuffed her hands and picked her up. Her right leg shot out and connected with his junk. Chuck dropped her and fell to the ground. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?" Chuck yelled in a high pitched voice. Anastasia crawled over to a corner and sat up.

Melissa came around the corner and saw Casey sitting on the ground holding his bleeding thigh as blood poured from his broken nose, and Chuck laying on the ground curled up in a ball holding his balls. When she saw Volok was half way out of her cuffs she pulled her Glock19 and pointed it at the younger girl. "Ah ah ah. I wouldn't do that if I was you. You see they might want to keep you alive for questioning, but I really don't care if you live or die. In fact why am I even messing around with all this talking for?" Melissa asked out loud. She racked the slide on her gun chambering a round and pointed it at Anastasia's head. She started to pulled the trigger.

"Stop! Just wait a second. You three are CIA yes?" She asked with surprisingly very little accent.

"Yes. Why?" Melissa asked. There was no point in explaining to this girl that she and Casey were technically NSA, and that she was really one of Charlie's Angels. It would take too long and from the way Volok was starting to drool she would be out soon.

"I want to deal. I will only talk to someone in charge." Volok slurred out.

"The word deal implies that you have something we want and we have something you want. What do you want?" Melissa asked. Since she seamed to be the only one capable of speech at the moment.

"I want to kill Victor Sidorov." She said as her head started to droop.

"And want do you have?" Melissa asked

"ME." Anastasia said falling over knocked out.

Melissa walked over to Chuck. "You okay down there?" She asked with a smile on her face.

"No I'm not okay. She kicked me straight in the junk." Chuck said sitting up.

Melissa made a pained face. "Ohh. That's got to hurt. Here lets get you two up." She said pulling Chuck off the ground. They both helped Casey up. "You need to get a bandage on the leg, and you better get that nose fixed before it heals crooked Major." She said as she got two more sets of zip ties. She cuffed Anastasia's hands and feet this time. Chuck picked her up and put her in the van.

Chuck leaned against the hood and took a deep breath. "You okay Chuck?" Melissa asked coming to stand by him.

"Yeah, it's not the first time I've been hit in the junk and it's not going to be the last. I take it that since you're here then so is Victor?" Chuck asked readjusting his pants.

"Yeah, he is. I think Kate's all ready working him over." Melissa said.

"She should have a very easy time doing it, I had Alex spike every drink he orders with a powerful truth agent. Between that and her looks she should be almost done actually. I was supposed to listen in on the conversation from the table next to theirs you know? Instead I'm out here getting kicked in the balls by a 90lb girl. Not the best day in the book of Carmichael." Chuck said.

"Well everyone else is listening in, and it's being recorded. I think you'll be fine with just listening in on the ear bud." Melissa said.

"I don't have it. I think mine fell out when she elbowed me in the chin." Chuck said rubbing his jaw.

"How hard did she hit you?" Melissa asked looking at his chin.

"Hard. She stunned me enough that I didn't flash. For such a small girl she sure as hell hits hard. Can I have your ear bud. I want to listen in for anything I might flash on." Chuck said holding out his hand.

"You're not afraid of sharing ear cuddies?" Melissa asked handing the clear plastic ear bud over.

"After all the things we've done together I think I can say with some certainty you're cuddy free." Chuck said laughing as he put the bud in.

He heard laughing. "So you're here in L.A. to meet with a church group?" Kate asked giggling.

"Yes. They want to buy something from me." Victor slurred.

"What could a church group want from a weapons dealer?" Kate asked keeping up the dumb blond act.

"They vant C4. I don't know vhy, and I don't ask. It's bad for business to ask questions like that." He said conspiratorially.

"Is that the only reason you're here?" Kate asked.

"Da, well that and the beautiful vomen." Victor said lecherously.

"When is your meeting? Do you have time to take me back to my hotel room?" Kate asked in a voice dripping with sex.

"The meeting isn't for till 2 am." Victor slurred badly. Victor must have had more then three spiked drinks. His speech patterns were getting worse.

Chuck turned to Melissa. "It's almost time to pull him out of there. Do you want to help me? Casey was supposed to but I think he's done for the night." Chuck said looking at Casey holding a bandage on the knife wound in his thigh.

"Sure. Lets go." She said.

"Well we have to wait till Kate gives the signal." Chuck said going back to the conversation happening in his ear.

"The meeting is happening in the parking garage back at my hotel. So we can have all night together." Victor said.

"Victor, I would love to spend the night with you, but I don't think my boyfriend Charlie would like that very much." Kate said.

"Come on. That's the signal." Chuck said walking back in to the restaurant. Chuck spotted them at the bar. Kate stood up when Chuck walked in and walked out the front door. Victor was half slumped over the bar and looked totally shit faced. Chuck walked up to him and shot him with a tranq dart while Melissa blocked him from the rest of the restaurant. The only one that saw what happened was Alex.

"Did you just hit him with a tranq dart?" Alex asked with wide eyes.

"I did." Chuck said.

"Was it a .2 dart or something stronger?" Alex asked in a panic feeling for a pulse.

"It was a .2 dart. Is that a problem?" Chuck asked freaked out.

"No it should be fine but he's going to be out for a long time. I've been adding a muscle relaxer to his drinks to help loosen him up." Alex said.

"Well whatever you did it worked. Now follow my lead." Chuck said smiling. Chuck let go of Victor's head and he flopped forward and smacked his head in the bar with a thud. "Wow Vic you can not hold your booze buddy!" Chuck called out loud. "Help me get my brother out of here honey." He said to Melissa. "Here, grab his arm. Lets walk him out the back." Chuck said slinging his arm Victor and Melissa did the same on the other side. They walked Victor out the back door and tossed him in the van next to Volok. Chuck called out the all clear and turned to Melissa. "Would you like me to walk you to your car?" He said offering his arm.

"I would like that." Melissa said.

Chuck looked at Casey sitting in the passenger seat of the van still holding his leg. "You okay big guy?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah, the bleeding almost stopped totally by now and Alex will be out in a minute to drive the van back to Castle." Casey said.

"Well then I'll meet you back at Castle." Chuck said leading Melissa down the ally to the street. When they turned the corner they saw Sarah standing in front of the restaurant watching Kate pace back and forth nervously. Chuck looked at Melissa and smirked. "She really is going to be my most insecure Angel isn't she?" Chuck said shaking his head.

"I don't know what she's freaked out about she just owned that situation in there. I think even without the drugs Sidorov would have talked. I mean look at her, no man could resist her." Melissa said.

They walked up to the two women and Kate threw her arms around Chuck. "I did it! I did it and I walked away from the bar and I didn't have to use sex to get the information we needed. I did it. I was shaking so hard but I kept it all in and played him just like you said." She rambled nervously.

Chuck looked over Kate's shoulder at Sarah and smiled sadly at her. She looked from him to Kate and shrugged. Melissa saw this exchange and walked over to Sarah. "Well it looks like we were right. Chuck does spend all of his time comforting the female members of the team." She said smiling.

"Yes and I think I can get over that. I can also get over the fact that he's my Chuck and spy Charles, and even your Charlie." Sarah said also smiling at the scene in front of her.

"Then why did you guys have such a bad fight that you needed to have desperate make up sex to recover from it?" Melissa asked.

"First of all that's none of your business. Secondly I can handle the fact that he's three people now, but when he's Charles to me over the phone for no reason I get panicked and when that happens The Enforcer comes out to play and she does not get along with Charles at all." Sarah said softly.

Chuck walked up to them. "I'm going to take Kate on a short ride to detox the adrenaline out of her system. I'll see you two back at Castle in an hour. We'll talk about the next part of the mission when we've had a chance to talk to both Volok and Sidorov. We have until 2 AM to make the meeting. That's five and a half hours from now." Chuck said looking at his Rolex.

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you in an hour." Sarah said giving Chuck a quick kiss.

Chuck walked Kate to the White Pontiac G6 and opened the door for her. When they drove off Sarah looked at Melissa. "I came in the van. I was hoping to catch a ride with Chuck." She said.

"Well Casey gave me the black Dodge Charger right there for the mission. Do you want a ride?" Melissa asked.

"Sure I'll ride with my mortal enemy." Sarah said with a smile as they walked to the car.

"For the record I'm glad you guys worked out your differences, and we can go back to being a team. With that being said I don't think we're going to see a lot of Chuck tonight. He has work to do. Starting with adding to the team. Volok wants to trade Victors life for her allegiance. I don't know how you guys want to play this but I think we should hear her out at least. She was strong enough the shake off three tranq darts and fight both Chuck and Casey to the ground. If she's willing to join up then I say we look into how loyal she really is to her government." Melissa said.

"You just want to add another girl to my husbands harem don't you?" Sarah asked laughing.

"We're not his harem. We are a group of highly skilled operatives working for the US government. You and Carina were C.A.T.s, we're Angels. It's the same thing. You answered to a higher up, we answer to Chuck. The only difference is that our superior is standing by to offer us a hug when we're having a bad day. When you get the C.A.T. squad back together you can be head of the Cats again." Melissa said.

"So we're not one team, we're two teams?" Sarah asked smirking.

"Sure, why not. Friendly competition brings out the best in people." Melissa said.

"Okay, but when you mess with a Cat you get the claws." Sarah said with a smile on her face, and a predatory look in her eyes.

"An Angel like me can't be baited. We heavenly ladies rise above mere mortals like you." Melissa said with her nose in the air. That set them both off.

"I wonder where Chuck took Kate?" Sarah asked.

"With Chuck you never know." Melissa said.

Chuck looked at Kate and smiled. She looked super hyper. Her foot was tapping along to the song on the radio, her hands were shaking and her head was bobbing. "Still hyper?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah. A little bit." Kate said blushing.

"The first time I was on a mission I had to land a helicopter, by myself, with no training at all. That night I didn't sleep at all. I tossed and turned all night. I couldn't stop moving. It's all the adrenaline rushing through your body." Chuck said smiling.

"I know the feeling. What did you do?" Kate asked.

"I paced my apartment for hours until finely my stomach growled. I opened the fridge and ate everything I could find. I sat on the couch and fell into a food coma. It was the best night of sleep I've ever had in my life." Chuck said. "What's your favorite pig out spot?"

"I don't know?" Kate said.

"Come on, don't try that 'I'm a lady, I don't have a pig out spot' crap with me. Come on, what's the place you go to when you're feeling crappy and you need a pick me up." Chuck said.

"Well there is this one place that makes a really good burger." Kate said.

"Punch it into the GPS. We're getting burgers." Chuck said.

Fifteen minutes later found Chuck and Kate sitting at a burger joint counter with two of the biggest, greasiest, nastiest, double bacon cheese burgers Chuck had ever seen. "How did I not know about this place?" Chuck asked looking at the burgers dripping with grilled onions.

"Sam showed me this place. She loves coming here." Kate said picking up her burger and taking a huge bite. Chuck looked at her and laughed. "What?" She asked.

"You got a little on your face." Chuck said.

"Where?" Kate asked picking up a napkin.

Chuck pulled out his iPhone and snapped a picture. "Everywhere." Chuck said showing her the picture.

Kate laughed. "You know what? I don't even care right now. This is the best burger in the world and I refuse to be shy about it." She said taking another huge bite.

Chuck laughed and picked up his monster burger. He took a bite and was transported to another plane of existence. "OH MY GOD." Chuck said around a mouth full of burger. Kate picked up his iPhone and snapped a picture of him. She showed it to him and he shrugged. "I just don't care either." Chuck said taking anther big bite and sighing contentedly. "I think I'm in love." Chuck said, his eyes hooded.

"I love a good burger. I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to them. When I'm feeling bad all I want is a good burger. When I'm feeling really good all I want is a good burger. I've had them all over this city and nothing comes close to this one." Kate said taking a pull on her thick chocolate shake.

"It's not an addiction if it taste this good. I'm changing your title from insecure Angel to my food soul mate, I love a good burger. Jordan made me eat this really bad tasting vegan burger thing this afternoon and it was terrible." Chuck said taking a swig from his bear bottle.

"I know what you're talking about, she made me eat there before. It's a sin to call that thing a burger I tell you, a sin." Kate said making a face.

"I didn't want to hurt her feelings so I ate it fast and washed it down with a good beer. The fries were good." Chuck said.

"Yeah, but they would have been better covered in cheese sauce." Kate said.

"I have to take you to this bar in Palo Alto. They make this Chile cheese burger called the mess. Half the people that order it eat it with a spoon. It was the best burger I ever had until just a minute ago." Chuck said shoving a huge chunk of burger in his mouth.

"I'd love to try that." Kate said taking a pull on her shake. "Chuck, I want to thank you for keeping me out of the loop on the whole Russian hit woman thing tonight. I was nervous enough and that would have freaked me out. So thanks." Kate said looking down.

"Think nothing of it. Tonight was your first real mission. It was to get Sidorov to talk about why he was here, what he was selling, and when. You accomplished those goals and more in less then twenty minutes. You completed your first mission flawlessly. Volok was my mission. I didn't do so good. I underestimated her and she kicked my ass for it. If Melissa hadn't have shown up when she did I could have ended up dead. If any one should feel embarrassed it should be me and Casey." Chuck said slinging his arm around her shoulder.

"Thanks Chuck, for the opportunity to be a real spy." Kate said softly.

"Just because the government didn't know the true value of a strong, beautiful woman like you doesn't mean I don't. your stunning and soon you'll be as deadly as the best spies in the world. Melissa wasn't kidding when she said she was going to give you your Angel pendent tonight. You've more then errand it." Chuck said.

"I have to do something special for Melissa." Kate said.

"Well we can start with one of these burgers. Melissa and Casey would love this place. We have to get a bunch of these to go. What else do they have here that's good?" Chuck asked.

"They have really good onion rings and fresh cut fries. I didn't get any for us because I can barely finish the burger." Kate said licking her fingers.

Back at Castle, Melissa and Sarah walked through the freezer and found a scene of chaos. There were tactical guys running around with assault rifles, and three agents following Casey around trying to get his attention. Casey was limping around giving orders, and Alex was following him around with a first aid kit. They shared a look and smirked. "You handle the tactical guys and I'll handle the agents?" Sarah asked.

"Sure I'll keep the grunts in line and entertained till we need them, but I want to be there when all the good stuff happens." Melissa said smirking.

"But of course, I wouldn't want Chuck's second in command, and head angel to miss anything." Sarah said sarcastically, but the smile on her face took all of the sting away.

"I think I smell cat nip." Melissa said smirking as she walked away.

"Casey will you sit down so the poor girl can work on you. I've got this." Sarah said waving him to a chair. She turned to one of the three agents trying to get her attention. "Okay you first. Name, rank, and what you want." She asked the handsome tall black agent in a black suit.

"Captain Richard Noble Ma'am. We put Volok in interrogation room one Ma'am." The agent said stiffly.

"Good Richard. Make sure she's secure. I want her zip tied, cuffed, and hog tied. Now what do you need?" She asked the extremely tall beautiful blond the short gray cocktail dress.

"Captain Victoria Dunwoody, Ma'am. Sidorov is in holding cell two Ma'am." She said.

"Good, I want to know as soon as he gets up." Sarah said.

"Agent Dunbar said with the mix of drugs she gave him and the tranq dart he would be out a long time, but I'll keep an eye on him for you Ma'am." Victoria said.

"Very good thank you Victoria. Now what can I do for you, let me guess, Captain?" Sarah asked smirking.

"You are correct Ma'am. Captain Jenifer Daily Ma'am. I'm in charge of the clean up Ma'am. We have all team members back, and the op. area is fully cleaned up Ma'am. We have no injuries except Major Casey Ma'am." The short slim woman in a blue cocktail dress said.

"That's very good. How many agents do we have?" Sarah asked.

"We have four agents. The three of us and Captain Dunbar, Ma'am. We also have two tactical teams of ten standing by Ma'am." Jenifer said.

"Well I want you three to get some rest. We need you three ready for another mission tonight. We need to interrogate the prisoners first so plan for the mission briefing to be in about three hours from now." Sarah.

"Yes Ma'am." Jenifer said and all three saluted before they walked away.

Sarah smiled and shook her head. She took a seat at the conference table and watched Alex put the final stitch in Casey's leg. "How are you doing John?" She asked.

"I'm fine. It wasn't even deep." Casey said waving her off.

"Alex, how is he really? Can he take part in the next mission tonight?" Sarah asked the tiny girl working on Casey's huge leg.

"It wasn't very long but it was deep. That Volok girl knows where to stab someone. If she wasn't totally drugged out of her mind she would have landed her blade a few inches higher and severed his femoral artery. He would have bled out in minutes. I gave him a little something for the pain and an anti-biotic. He should really stay off of it for a few days, but I knew he wouldn't do that so I added twice the number of stitches needed so when he rips half of them it will still hold together." Alex said wrapping bandage around his leg. "And this big bandage will catch the blood from the ripped stitches. Now go lay down somewhere for an hour to let the wound start to heal." Alex said patting Casey's leg as she re-broke his nose straight. Casey tried to swat her in the back of the head for the smart comment as he limped away, but Alex dodged it causing Casey to laugh.

Sarah laughed the byplay "You know him so well already." She said.

"I know the type Ma'am. My father was career military. He was a Major in the Army." Alex said putting away the supplies she didn't use.

"Was?" Sarah asked.

"KIA. Three years ago in Iraq. I.E.D. attack." Alex said softly.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Sarah said.

"Thanks, but I'm mostly over it now. I mean I understand the risks of service. The saddest part I think is he was so close to retiring." Alex said smiling sadly. "Can we change the subject please?" She asked taking a seat next to Sarah.

"Sure, Can I ask you why there are so many Captains in the NSA? It seams like every NSA agent I meet is a Captain." Sarah said.

"Oh that's easy. We're technically a branch of the military and the Rank of Captain represents the same pay grade as you CIA guys. So we start out as Captains and as we are promoted, we get rank bumps and that represents pay grade bumps." Alex said.

"That makes sense. So Alex, have you thought what comes next? I mean after this mission's over?" Sarah asked.

"I guess I'll be off to my next assignment?" Alex said shrugging, but Sarah detected a hint of sadness to her tone.

"There's a way for you to stay with us you know?" Sarah said.

"How?" Alex asked nonchalantly, but Sarah was a master at reading people.

"How would you like to be permanently assigned to the team?" Sarah asked.

"I would like that very much Ma'am." Alex said excitedly.

"I Think we can stop with the Ma'am thing already. Call me Sarah." Sarah said smiling at her excitement.

"Thank you so much for this opportunity." Alex said.

"Don't thank me. Chuck picked you out of the group for possible Intersect Download, and Casey signed off on you first. I was the last person to see your value. You're very smart and you get along very well with the team as a whole." Sarah said.

"Well thank you anyways. I like working with you guys a lot. This is the first time I've been on a team that likes each other. It feels more like a family around here and I like that. I like it a lot." Alex said blushing.

Melissa walked in and looked between the two. "What did I miss?" She asked taking a seat next to Alex.

"I just asked Alex to join the team permanently." Sarah said.

"Well congratulations short stuff. Now Sarah has a subordinate she can boss around until Carina comes back." Melissa said slinging an arm around Alex and pulling her close.

"Why would she boss me around? She's been very nice to me the whole time I've been working here." Alex said confused.

"Pay no attention to her Alex. She's nuts." Sarah said.

"I am not! I passed my phsy exam and everything." Melissa said making a funny face and crazy eyes at Alex. When Sarah saw it she fell into a fit of uncontrolled laughter. That set the other two off.

This was the scene Chuck and Kate walked into. "What's so funny?" He asked.

"Your girlfriend is crazy." Sarah said laughing.

"So now it's okay to joke about our relationship?" Chuck asked smiling.

"Sure. Lets start with the fact that you have a harem." Sarah said still laughing.

"I told you before we're not his harem. We just work for him." Melissa said giggling. "In fact I'm not even really attracted to Chuck. He's a bit dorky."

"For that you're not getting a burger." Chuck said putting the five big bags and the full drink holder on the table. He then took the four full drink holders from Kate.

"Did you say burgers?" Melissa asked sobering up fast.

"I did. But burgers go to girls that don't make fun of me. I'm sorry." Chuck said with a sad look on his face as he handed Alex a Styrofoam container. Melissa look confused until she saw Alex's burger. Then she looked crestfallen.

"You would take away my burger?" Melissa asked with a puppy dog eyes.

"Those don't work on me. You know that." Chuck said ignoring her and handing Sarah a container.

"They do work on you." Melissa said pouting.

"Okay fine. You know I hate the pouting. Here, I got you a rare one with extra onions." Chuck said handing her a burger.

"Let that be a lesson to you. No one can resist the pout, not even you Carmichael!" Melissa said with an evil genius laugh.

"Fine you got the burger, but what are you going to wash in down with?" Chuck asked holding up a chocolate shake with a smirk.

"Curse you Carmichael! Fine you might have won this round but the war is far from over." Melissa said giving him the evil eye.

"You know what? For your perfect evil overlord performance you get the shake. Way to stick with it." Chuck said clapping.

"Thank you," Melissa said taking a bow. "I would like to thank the academy, my mom and dad. And my agent." Melissa said holding the shake like an Academy Award. That caused the rest of them to bust out laughing.

"What's going on out here?" Casey asked limping into the conference room.

"Diner. I got you a double bacon cheese burger with extra bacon and cheese." Chuck said pulling a container out and handing it to Casey.

Casey plopped down next to Kate. When he opened his container and Chuck was sure he saw a tear come to the large man's eyes. Casey picked up the huge burger and took a bite. His eyes rolled back in his head. "My God this is good."

"Kate can you make sure everyone gets a burger and shake? I'm going to go have a little talk with Mrs. Volok." Chuck said pulling his tie off and putting his gun on the table.

"Chuck you really shouldn't walk into the interrogation room by yourself. Let me come with you." Sarah said.

"I'll be fine Sarah. Just eat your burger and relax. I think it's time Anastasia Volok met Charles Carmichael." Chuck said unbuttoning the top three buttons of his shirt smiling his wolfish smile before he turned and walked out.

"For the record. That's the man I'm attracted to. Any one else think he looks good enough to eat when he smiles like that?" Melissa asked staring at Chuck's retreating back.

The women at the table all nodded and Casey laughed at them.

Chuck walked into the viewing room for interrogation room one. He was shocked to find Volok wide awake, and sitting with her feet up on the table. He saw the pile of rope, zip ties and handcuffs sitting on the table. She turned to look at the camera and smiled. Chuck felt fear run through him and he had to fight down the impulse to look for a camera. But then he smiled. He knew what she was doing. He knew because he loved doing the same thing. She was trying to freak him out. She knew she had a reputation and by messing with his head before the interrogation started she would have the upper hand. She was adding to the legend of Anastasia Volok, last of the Red Children. He watched the screen for another two minutes and when she looked up at the camera and smiled again he knew he had her. He walked into the interrogation room and took a seat on the other side of the table. He picked up the cuffs. "Did you have to break your thumbs or did you use the zip tie to shim the latch?" Chuck asked smiling his predatory smile.

She held up her hands and flexed her unbroken thumbs. She then smiled at the camera.

"You know you can stop smiling at the camera. The legend of the Last Red Child is secure. You don't have to pander to an empty viewing room." Chuck said with his Carmichael smile firmly in place.

"Empty you say? So no one is watching us?" She asked sitting up and leaning over to give him a clear look down her dress.

Chuck kept his eyes on hers "I have charmed women much older and much more beautiful then you little one. That's not going to work on me. But I'm a professional just like you and I understand that you have to play every card in your deck so go ahead and make your play. If you do however then I have to make mine and you will enjoy it very much, but you will tell me everything you know." Chuck said in a voice full of calm confidence that had Volok blushing.

"You are very good Mr?"

"Carmichael, Charles Carmichael." He said smiling.

"Carmichael?" She asked closing her eyes and lowering her head in defeat.

"Yes, I see you know of me." Chuck said.

"Just whispers, nothing more, nothing less. La Cuadad?" Volok asked raising an eye brow.

"A very attractive woman. We shared a tango once, and then we danced." Chuck said playing with the hand cuffs with a nostalgic smile.

"What do you want to know?" She asked folding her hands.

"All I want to know is why you're here." Chuck said.

"I'm here because you drugged me and kidnapped me." Volok said smiling.

"If we're going to play games I can just get the information I want the old fashioned way." Chuck said softly as he rubbed his thumb over her wrist.

She blushed and pulled her wrist away. "Fine, no games. I'm here to kill Victor Sidorov." Volok said with a look of pure hatred burning in her eyes.

"Does your government know you're here to kill Sidorov?" Chuck asked.

"No. They do not know." She said looking down at her folded hands.

"So you're AWOL, and on a revenge mission?" Chuck asked.

"Yes. Are you going to report me to My government?" She asked.

"Why would I do that? No I'm thinking we can come to some kind of agreement." Chuck said.

"Agreement?" Volok asked.

"Yeah sure, why not? You said something about a trade before you passed out. What did you mean?" Chuck asked.

"I'm AWOL as you just said. If I go back to Russia I won't go to some prison, I'll be killed. Well first I'll be handed off to some very bad people to be raped and tortured but eventually they will kill me. So I can never go home. This does not bother me because I have nothing there. I have no family, as you said I'm the last of the Red Children. I have watched as my brothers and sisters died. I have no love for my country. I would like to, how you say? Switch sides." Volok said.

"You say you want to switch sides. What do you mean by that?" Chuck asked leaning back in his chair.

"Well you know my reputation. You know my legend as you said. I can tell you most of it is true. I've been active for nine years. I have over one hundred confirmed kills. My name is whispered in dark shadows by the underground enemies of the Russian Government. You saw what I did to you and your friend, I could have done a lot more. I have been trained in the art of death from before I could read and I have used those skill with devastating results. Those skills will be yours from now on. You have but to point me at a target and give me the word." She said with a predatory smile on her face.

"And what do you want in return, I mean besides killing Sidorov? Why do you want to kill him so bad anyways?" Chuck asked.

"You know about the Red Children program, but do you know who started it?" She asked staring off in to space.

"A rouge KGB group." Chuck said.

"Victor was a member of this group. He was in charge of our care. Lets just say he liked little girls and we can spare each other the very bad details." Volok said wrapping her arms around her chest.

"I understand." Chuck said looking sick.

"You would let me kill him?" She asked.

"I would." Chuck asked.

"There are laws and rules in this country no?" Volok asked.

"There are, but you see Victor has a lot of information. Information he is not going to want to give up. So I'm going to put you in charge of his interrogation. I'm thinking it's going to take at least three or four days to get every little bit of information out of him. I think one of these interrogation sessions is going to go very bad for him. I don't think his heart can take that much stress. It's unfortunate but it happens." Chuck said looking at the table. "I need your word that you will get everything from him. The only way I can spin this is if we get everything out of him before he's dead." Chuck said looking her in the eyes.

"It will be as you say." Volok said.

"I need your word. Look me in the eye and tell me you are going to follow orders." Chuck said pinning her in place with a look that pierced her Hard shell and examined her very soul.

"I will follow orders." She said returning his stare.

Chuck held her gaze for a very long time and when she looked away first he knew he had her. "Good. Now lets talk about after you finish your interrogation. We are in the middle of a very important mission. I'm technically undercover right now. I've infiltrated a group named Fulcrum. Have you heard of them?"

"I have. A rouge intelligence agency working for the fall of your government." She said.

"Right. In about two weeks we are going to execute simultaneous missions all over the country at the same time. One part of one of these missions is the extraction of one of our fellow agent's son. His name is Scott and he's a student of computer engineering at UCLA, and he's unaware that his room mate is an assassin assigned to kill him. I want you to get close to him and take out the assassin." Chuck said sitting back in his seat.

"You want me to shadow the assassin?" She asked playing with the rope in the table.

"No, I think Scott's going to meet a nice Russian girl at school." Chuck said smiling. "Yes, I think a Russian foreign exchange student is going to be taking the same classes as him. I think she's going to sit next to him and flirt with him. I think he's going to take her out to lunch and there in that public place when no one is watching she's going to tell him who she is and why she's there. I think they are going to maintain a cover of boyfriend and girlfriend until the day comes for the missions. After you get him out and kill the assassin I want you to bring him back here and join Casey on his mission. You will back him up." Chuck said.

"So I have to pretend to be a college student?" She asked making a face.

"Is that going to be a problem?" Chuck asked with a smirk.

"Yes, I do not have the knowledge to be in college. I barely can read or write English. I was never educated in computer whatever. Can't I be some random girl he picks up at a bar?" She asked making a pitiful face.

"No I don't think so. Besides you can use your lack of knowledge to get close to him. Ask him for help with your homework." Chuck said laughing.

"Fine, but I get to chose my next cover." Volok said.

"Whatever you want." Chuck said holding out his hand.

Anastasia shook his hand and the door flung open and Melissa came in holding out her hand. "Hi I'm Melissa! Were going to be working together. This is going to be so much fun!" Melissa said smiling.

"I have to work with her?" Volok as Chuck.

"She gets less annoying as you get to know her, and she's not always this perky. She just ate a big meal. she tends to be giddy after a big meal." Chuck said smirking.

Melissa smacked him in the back of his head. "Shut up. No one likes you. Now go away so I can get to know the new girl." Melissa said. "So tell me about yourself Anna." Melissa said sitting in the chair Chuck stood up from.

"I do not like the name Anna." She said making a face.

Okay then I'll call you Stasia." Melissa said.

"I don't like that name either." She said.

"I'd stick with Anna, she's going to call you one of the two and at least Anna sounds good." Chuck said laughing.

"What are you still doing here? Go away!" Melissa said waving him out the door. Chuck shrugged and left. "About time. Now we can really talk. So is there a Mr. Russian assassin?" Melissa asked.

"No there is not." Anna said eyeing Melissa like she was crazy.

"Well, we'll just have to find you one. It can't be Chuck though, he's off the market." Melissa babbled on.

"I don't like you. You talk too much." Anna said.

"Well that's not very nice. I don't know if you know this, but if you want to work for Chuck then you're going to have to work with me. I'm Chuck's second in command." Melissa said standing up.

"In that case then I guess I can live with the name Anna." She said sitting back in her seat and pouting.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. I think me and you are going to be great friends." Melissa said pulling the smaller woman into a big hug.

Chuck walked out of the room shaking his head. He was sure Melissa was crazy before, but to talk to a trained killer like that? She was certifiable.


	21. Chapter 21

Chuck walked into the conference room, and saw it was almost empty except for his wife. "Where is everyone?" Chuck asked leaning on the door frame.

"Casey is taking a nap. Alex is looking over blueprints for the Four Seasons Hotel. Kate's sleeping in one of the holding cells totally drained. Adrenalin crash, you know how it is. Noble and Dunwoody are scouting the parking garage, I also think they might be sweet on each other and are using this as an opportunity to be alone together. Melissa agrees with me. Jenifer Daily is watching Sidorov. Melissa walked away about ten minutes ago and she didn't say where she was going. I sent the tactical guys out for beers. Those guys do not like to sit around and wait." Sarah said turning to face him smiling.

Chuck smiled back "My second in command is in the interrogation room having girl talk whit a Russian assassin right now. By the way this makes three enemy agents I've flipped now." Chuck said buffing his nails on his shirt.

"I'll give you two, but I don't think Melissa counts. She would do anything for you. It's kind of cute how she follows you around acting as your greatest advocate. So what did Volok want?" Sarah asked putting her feet up on the chair next to her.

"Not much. She's AWOL, and on a revenge mission to kill Sidorov. Trust me she has a very good reason for wanting to. She wants to kill him after she's gotten every little scrap of information out of him, and she want's to stay in this country. I offered her a spot on the team and she jumped at it. She's going to handle Scott Rodgers' extraction. She's going undercover in a few days as a new student taking the same classes he's taking. I figure she could pull an us and take up the cover of boyfriend and girlfriend." Chuck said.

"Ah, the old cover. There are some days I miss it. At least back then we got to see each other every day." Sarah said sadly as she sat up in her seat.

"Sometimes I miss it to. I miss the dates and the reassuring touches you would give me when you thought no one was looking." Chuck said as he took the seat at the conference table next to Sarah and picked up her hand. "But of all the things I miss about not being together everyday, holding your hand is a lot higher on the list then I though it would be." Chuck whispered in her ear.

"What's at the top of the list?" She asked smiling a sexy little smile.

"I know the manly answer would be to say the sex, but to tell you the truth, it's your scent. Whenever I smell lavender I see your pretty smile in my head, and imagine the feel your soft skin under my finger tips." Chuck said kissing her neck as he ran his finger tips up her stocking clad leg.

"Well, I miss this." Sarah said as Chuck's hand traveled up under her skirt. "I miss your touch. You always know how to touch me." she moaned as he found the top of her stockings.

"That's another thing I miss." He said playing with her stocking top.

"What's that?" She asked breathy as his hand made contact with her silk panties.

"The sound of you moaning." He said slipping his hand under the flimsy material.

"Oh god." She cried out as he played with her pink pearl.

"OH! um, Excuse me?" Jenifer said from the doorway.

Chuck removed his hand and turned to her. "Yes, what can I help you with?" He asked without a hint of a blush.

"Um, Sidorov is moving around a lot, and Alex said that was the first sign of him waking." She said turning bright red.

"Good. I want you to get Anna and tell her to meet us at his cell. Then I want you to find Casey a new pair of black BDU pants." Chuck said.

"Right away Sir." She said before turning around and running off.

"I think that was the first time she's ever walked in on two people fooling around. Thank God she came when she did. I was planning on taking you on top of this the table." Chuck said kissing Sarah on the neck and making her shudder before he stood up and walked away.

Sarah tried to stand up too, but her legs felt like jello so she had to sit back down. "Wow. He's getting way too good at that." She said shuddering.

Chuck met Anna and Melissa in the hall outside of the holding cell. "So what's the play boss?" Melissa asked.

"The play is that me and Casey are going to go in there, smack him around a bit, black bag him, and put him in an interrogation room. We're not going to talk much, and when we do, I'll do it in Russian. When we pull the bag off his head I want the first thing he sees to be Anna with us standing with her. I want him to think he's been captured by Anna. If he think's we have him he knows we can't kill him, but if he thinks she's in charge of his questioning then he'll crap himself." Chuck said.

Casey limped over to them with Alex and Jenifer and looked in at Sidorov. "So he's finally coming around?"

"Yeah, just not fast enough. Melissa can you get a bucket of cold water?" Chuck asked.

"Sure Chuck." She said following Alex.

Chuck walked into the interrogation room and found the hand cuffs. He turned to Casey and smiled sadly at him. "It's time for Victor to meet Mad Dog Carmichael. We're going to play it like we're Russian thugs working for Anna." He said.

"So it's Anna now? Just two hours ago the situation was a lot different. We trust her?" Casey asked touching his nose.

"Yes we do. She's here in to kill Sidorov. He, He did things to her when she was very young." Chuck said looking green.

Casey looked confused for a second and then Chuck's words sunk in, and his eyes took on that dangerous edge. "I get it. So she's working for us now?" He asked looking out in the hall at the small girl.

"Yes. I figure since she gave you such an ass kicking she can take something off your plate. She's going under cover in a few days as a new student in Scott's classes. I figure she can handle his extraction." Chuck said.

"Can she do something like that?" Casey asked.

"She can. She's like the Russian equivalent of Sarah. She can handle this with her eyes closed." Chuck said.

Casey nodded. "Your going to have to do the talking in that room. My Russian is too rusty to sound good." Casey said.

"I know." Chuck said. Melissa walked up with the bucket. "Melissa can you take Sarah away from here with Alex and Jenifer? I don't want her to see this." Chuck said softly.

"I can, but why? It's not like she's never done something like this before." Melissa said.

"I know, but she's never really met Mad Dog Carmichael in person and I don't want her to see this." Chuck said looking at the bucket.

"Okay, but you're going to have to tell her to go. She won't listen to me." Melissa said.

Chuck turned to Sarah and smiled. "Can you take Alex, Jenifer, and Melissa out of here? I don't want them to see this." Chuck asked Sarah.

"Of course Chuck." She said looking him in the eye with a sad look on her face. She knew why he was asking her to go. She knew it and he knew she knew. She pulled the other three away. She looked back before she rounded the corner and didn't recognize the man standing there holding the bucket.

"Come on big guy, lets give this asshole a wake up call." Chuck said opening the door. They stepped into the room and Chuck dumped the bucket over Victors head. He flew up off the cot sputtering and yelling. Chuck bashed him in the head with the empty bucket. "Quiet! You rapist dog!" He yelled in Victor's face.

"Who are you?" Victor asked in Russian.

Chuck put the bucket over Victor's head and slammed his fist into it a few times. "I Said Quiet!" He yelled.

"I Demand to know where I am!" Victor yelled.

Chuck pulled the bucket off his head and using the cuffs as a set of brass knuckles he punched Victor in the face snapping his head back and sending a tooth flying. "Hold him so I can cuff him." Chuck barked at Casey. Casey grabbed Victor and slammed him into the wall face first. He then twisted his arms behind his back violently and Chuck cuffed him. Casey dragged him back to the cot and tossed him down. Chuck pulled out a knife and advanced on the terrified man. "I would love nothing more then to cut out your eyes and tongue, but my boss, she say's I can't hurt you before she get's her turn. When she's done with you, you're going to wish I would have cut on you." Chuck said running the point of his knife down the side of his face leaving a paper cut in it's wake. Chuck cut away Victor's shirt, and pants leaving him in just his boxers and black socks. "Bag him!" Chuck said.

Casey pulled out a black bag and tossed it over Victor's head. They grabbed him and drug him out of the room and down the hall to an interrogation room. They slammed him down on the chair and zip tide his wrists and ankles to the metal chair. When Anna was standing in front of him Casey pulled the bag off. "Hello Victor, long time no see." She said smiling a smile that was anything but nice.

He took one look at her and lost control of his bladder. "No." He said in a soft panicked voice.

"Yes. I've been waiting for a very long time for this Victor. A very long time. I see your taste in women has changed since I last saw you. You like them tall and blonde now. You used to like them young and afraid before. I know because you told me that once. You told me that I was your favorite because I was so afraid of you. You told me the fear made it more fun for you." Anna said walking around him. She grabbed a fist full of his hair and pulled his head back to look at her standing over him. "Was that true? Did my fear make it more fun for you?" She asked in a dangerous voice.

"Please, I'll tell you anything you want to know. Please don't hurt me!" Victor pleaded.

"You didn't answer my question Victor." Anna said taking the knife from Chuck's hand and making a long shallow cut across Victor's chest. "I'm going to cut you every time you don't answer my questions." She whispered in his ear. "Did my fear make it fun for you?" She asked playing with the black throwing knife.

"Yes." Victor said clinching as if waiting for the end, when nothing happened he opened his eyes. That's when Anna struck. Her elbow impacted his face.

"Why are you here? Why are you in L.A." she asked.

"To make a sale." Victor said shaking.

"What are you selling?" She asked.

"C4. I have it in my car in the hotel parking garage." He said.

In the conference room Sarah looked at Melissa and they shared a sad smile across the table. "How long do you think this is going to take?" Alex asked pacing the room.

"As long as it has to. But with the methods they're using I'd say anywhere between twenty minutes and an hour. With a guy like Sidorov, it's probably going to take an hour." Sarah said, and to prove her very wrong, Chuck and Casey walked in to the conference room with Anna behind them as she finished her sentence.

"We're meeting a group of Christian extremists that are buying the C4 to blow up abortion clinics and maybe a church. Sidorov is not sure. They have never seen his face and the meeting is going to take place on the second floor of the parking garage at 2 AM tonight. I'm going as Sidorov. Anna and Sarah are coming with me for back up. I want Casey and Alex in the van on the first floor, and Noble and Dunwoody in a car on the third floor with the engine running. I want Melissa and Daily in the stairwells on both sides of the parking garage. At the first sigh of a gun I want the targets taken down. I want all of you to try to go for non-lethal shots tonight but if it comes down to you or them they are not worth it. Am I clear?" Chuck said looking at everyone in the room. "Good it's midnight now I want everyone in place in an hour. If anyone locates a possible target I want you to snap a picture of them and send it to me on my iPhone. Are there any questions?" Chuck asked. "Good. Melissa, you're in charge of telling Tac. team one that we won't be needing them anymore tonight. Daily, you're in charge of briefing Noble and Dunwoody. Good luck out there and I'll see you in an hour." Chuck said. Every one got up and went their separate ways. When the dust settled Chuck was left in the room with Anna and Sarah. "Sarah I need some help with the temporary hair dye. I'm going to need a little gray." Chuck said.

"I can help you with that. Come with me." Sarah said standing up.

"Anna. Why don't you rest for a minute. I think there's a few burgers left. The microwave is through those doors along with the fridge. We'll be leaving in about an hour." Chuck said following Sarah out.

When he got to the dressing room he found Sarah sitting in a makeup chair looking at different bottles. "Do you want more of a silver tone or are you going for a white look?" She asked.

Chuck walked over to her and picked her up. He sat in the chair and put her on his lap. "I trust you to understand but I just didn't want you to have to. I'm not proud of the things I just did in that room, but I also don't feel very bad about them either. Does that make me a bad person? Does that mean I'm losing Chuck to Charles?" Chuck asked dropping his head on her shoulder.

"I don't have the answers for you Chuck. I just know what I've been through. I can tell you that for the longest time I thought I had lost the normal person inside of me. The person that I grew up as. The person I was before I joined the CIA. It took falling in love with you to realize I didn't lose that side, I just turned it off. I didn't need to be normal. I didn't need emotions. I didn't want love in my life because it would open up a weakness in my armor. I needed to be tough, and strong, and ruthless. I think you're fine. I think the fact that you're questioning yourself means you still have feelings. You're still a good person Chuck, and no matter what you do, or how far you fall you will always be Chuck. Because I didn't marry Charles, I married Chuck. My sweet, funny, nerdy, Chuck. and no matter what, you're always going to be my Chuck." Sarah said touching his face.

"Thank you. I needed to hear that." Chuck said softly.

"But next time I want to be there with you. I think The Enforcer has to get along with Carmichael at some point. I think it can be a bonding opportunity for the two of them." Sarah said.

"Do you think we're crazy for referring to ourselves in the third person like that?" Chuck asked smiling.

"No. I think it's the only way to stay sane, and do this job. Almost every good agent does it. Casey is the first person I've met that doesn't do it, but even he separates the things he has to do from the man he is everyday. You remember the first time you met him. That was not Casey. I don't know what he calls that person but that was not the John Casey we know." Sarah said smiling softly.

"I know. I base a lot of Carmichael off of him that night. The coldness. The calmness. The absolute disregard for human life. That smile that never reaches his lifeless eyes. That's all Casey. The trigger happy, crazy, and unpredictable side of Carmichael is all Carina though. Carmichael goes from zero to crazy in a split second. Always keeping them on there toes. Carmichael's temper is all General Beckman." Chuck said laughing.

"Did you base anything on me?" Sarah asked smiling.

"I base a lot of the confidence, charm, and seduction on Agent Walker." Chuck said.

"Really?" Sarah asked smirking.

"Oh yeah. Agent Walker knows she's hot and knows how to use it. So does Carmichael. He looks at every woman he meets as a potential asset. He understands that eye contact and light touches mixed with a low hypnotic tone of voice can get him anything he wants. And if I'm confident in bed Carmichael is a total predator." Chuck said blushing.

"Is that how you see me?" She asked blushing.

"No, that's how I see Agent Walker. She's sex on two legs and she knows it. She can spot a mark from across the room and she can have him spilling his secrets with just a smile and a flash of her ice blue eyes." Chuck said smiling.

"I see. Well I mean, I knew all that, it's just, I've never heard it put like that." Sarah said with a thoughtful look in her eyes. "Hey you took something from every agent you know, but you left out Bryce. I thought Carmichael's charm was based on Bryce." Sarah asked.

"No. it's all you honey." Chuck said laughing.

"Then what did you get from Bryce?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing. Carmichael is a mix of good agents and people I respect. Bryce is neither of those two things. He's a crappy agent that road your coattails for three years and I lost all respect for him after I figured that out." Chuck said laughing. He sobered up though when he saw her frown.

"What do you mean he road my coattails?" She asked.

"Come on Sarah, I've seen the mission files. They read a lot like the old Carmichael file. Now I fully admit that you and Casey did almost all of the heavy lifting on our missions together. Think back to your missions with him Sarah, who did all the killing? Who did all the grunt work? Who did most of the surveillance? I'm looking the files over in my head as we speak and I can only find two examples where he did anything but pretend to be a spy and look good as your date undercover, and how hard is that? I used to do it all the time and I never had any training at all." Chuck said looking her in the eye.

"He did more then that! I know he did. I was there you know, I saw him… um he. He went undercover with the Russian mob for three months!" Sarah said in a 'take that' voice.

"What was the mission objective?" Chuck asked smirking.

"What?" She asked.

"What was the mission objective? I'll help you out because I'm looking at the file in my head right now. The mission was to find and locate all of the arms and drug dealers associated with the Ivanov crime family. A mission that could have been done by just hanging out in the many clubs and restaurants the family owned. They were not very secretive about there dealings. They run most of Moscow. You said so in your own report. So who's idea was it for Bryce, your boyfriend of a year and a half to hook up with the bosses daughter and live the fast paced fantasy life of a Russian mobster for three months?" Chuck asked.

"His." She said confused.

"And who did all the real work while he was off plying mobster?" Chuck asked.

"I did?" She said confused.

"And when you pissed off the Hungarians and they sent a ten man hit squad after you where was your partner and boyfriend?" Chuck asked sadly.

"He was finishing the mission." She said in a lost voice.

"Finishing the mission by running down magical leads that just happened to pop up after the news of the hit squad got to you two. And the mission was to kill the crime boss that was funding terrorists groups, who killed him and his top advisors?" Chuck asked.

"I did." She said softly.

"And when you were being watched by the Columbians on your first mission together, who came up with the husband and wife cover? Who jumped at the idea that you two should put on a show to throw them off your trail? Was it him?" Chuck asked.

"It was." She looking green around the edges.

"So the great Bryce Larkin. Ladies man and super spy is about as real as the great Charles Carmichael, Mad Dog killer and all around badass." Chuck said holding her close.

"My god. Was I that blind?" She asked.

"I don't think so. Bryce is very good at pretending to be a good agent. I think you fell for the idea of Bryce Larkin, supper spy. I know I thought he was, until I flashed on your file. Until then I was competing with an idea. I was chasing a ghost that never really existed. The same idea that you fell in love with." Chuck said smiling sadly.

"How?" She asked softly.

"I think you just wanted to see something in him that you were looking for. Bryce is charming. He's very devious that way. I could tell you so many stories from back at Stanford. He used to bag women like a trophy hunter. It was a game to him back then. I thought he changed. I guess not." Chuck said holding her tighter.

"We need to change the subject. You trusted this new girl very fast, what did she say to you?" Sarah asked.

"She told me the reason why she want's to kill Victor Sidorov. You know he was one of the people running the program to turn kids into killers right? It turns out he was put in charge of their well being and he took advantage of that fact." Chuck said looking green.

"He didn't?" She half said half asked.

"He did. He made a game out of it. He would go after the ones that were the most afraid and then he would…" Chuck couldn't finish saying it.

"For how long?" Sarah asked as the tears pooled in her eyes.

"I'm guessing from the start of the program till it was disbanded. So for about five years." Chuck said fighting the bile in his throat.

"How could someone do something like that? I'm mean I've done some very bad things in my life but never anything even close to that. How is she even sane?" Sarah asked holding Chuck as he shook with rage.

"I wanted to hurt him so bad Sarah. I cut his face with my knife and I wanted to do more. I could see it in my head. The things I wanted to do to him I mean. I didn't really have to try to be scary in that room. I was close to killing him very slowly. I have no remorse for the tings we did to that sick fuck. Not even a little bit. And I think that's what scared me the most. I wanted to do more. So much more. I flashed on things I didn't even know I had in my head. The Intersect was combining the fighting skills I know with my knowledge of the human anatomy, and knife skills I learned. It was giving me suggestions about how to cause the most pain while inflecting the lest amount of damage so I could make it last longer. When Anna took over I felt both relief and disappointment. Relief that I didn't have to do those things and disappointment because I wanted to." Chuck said shaking with fear.

"It's okay Chuck. I would have done a lot worse. I don't know if I could have stopped. I know I've done things to people like him before. Things that I never put in my file, and things I don't want to tell you." She said shivering at the memory.

"I feel dirty." Chuck said.

"Then let me make you feel better." She said kissing him.

A half hour later Anna was walking around Castle looking for Chuck and Sarah. It was twenty minutes to one and they said they wanted to get there at one. She heard a sound coming from down a hallway and followed it. The further she went the louder the sound got. She wasn't sure what the sound was. A mix between a banging and a squeaking. She turned a corner and saw the door to one of the holding cells was open. She was about to look in the room when she heard the distinct sound of a woman moaning. She was confused for a split second before she heard Sarah yell out "Oh God. Harder Chuck!" She blushed and smirked before she walked back down the hall. She found an intercom panel on the wall and leaned on the wall next to it. She look down at her watch and waited. Five minutes later, when the bumping stopped she hit the intercom button.

"Excuse me, but it's about ten minutes to one and we are late." She said. She smiled when she heard Chuck say 'Crap' and started counting in her head. She only got to 48 before Chuck came running down the hall buttoning his shirt.

"Sorry about that. We lost track of time." He said running his hands over his wrinkled shirt. Sarah came down the hall next and the only sign of their love making was her messy hair.

"It is fine. It happens sometimes. After all it's hard to keep track of the time and keep it hard and on track at the same time." Anna said smirking as she walked away.

"Well it seams like we keep getting busted by our team." Sarah said smirking.

"I don't really care if they keep catching us, we're on our honeymoon after all. Isn't that what people do on their honeymoon?" Chuck said as he picked up the bottle of hair coloring and handed it to Sarah.

"True. I know we really need to get away after this mission and have a real honeymoon. I'm thinking somewhere like the south of France, or the Amalfia cost." Sarah said adding gray on the sides of his temples, and in two strips down eater side of his chin. "You look good, very distinguished, and Connery-esq." She said.

"Proving I'll still have it in thirty years." Chuck said with a smirk.

"Come on Mr. Bond it's time for the mission." She said pushing him down the hall towards the front door.

The three of them arrived at the parking garage at a little after one thanks to Chuck's new driving skills and the performance tune up Sarah put on his Mustang. Chuck entered the garage doing 60 and kept up the speed by drifting the four right Angel turns and coming very close to a few parked cars and a pillar or two. When he slid to a stop in front of the van and the Dodge Charger Sarah and Anna both jumped out of the car looking a little green. Anna looked at Chuck like he was crazy. "I get ride back to my hotel from someone else!" She yelled in Russian.

Casey laughed at her. "It couldn't have been that bad." He said looking at Chuck, who was looking very innocent at the moment.

"It was Casey. I'm tempted to not ride with him either. I've been taught to drive aggressively and I don't know half of the things he just did. I was sure he was going to hit that parked car taking the hairpin turn coming off the expressway doing 110 without any lights on." Sarah said looking at Chuck like we was nuts too.

"Well I didn't want to attract any attention to us. It's a black car in the middle of the night. No one even saw us." Chuck defended.

"Wow. You even spooked Walker. That's some kind of achievement son." Casey said patting Chuck on the back.

"I know. I'm quite proud of myself. The car handles like a dream honey. Thank you for buying it for me. I love it." Chuck said running his hand along the fender.

"So the car gets an I love you but I don't?" Sarah asked smiling.

Chuck walked around the car and pulled her into a heart stopping kiss against the side of the car. "I love you more then life itself. Don't ever think I don't. I'm just very happy with Sarah the Mustang." Chuck said.

"Sarah? You're naming the car Sarah?" She asked.

"Sure, she is the Boss Lady after all. Besides, she's sleek, and sexy and has all the right curves. But don't let her beauty fool you, she's got some real muscle on her." Chuck whispered in her ear as his hands found their rightful places. His right hand tAngeld in the hair at the back of her head and his left hand firmly on her ass.

"Um, I hate to break this up but we have a mission to plan for?" Melissa said.

"Fine but after that I think me and the misses are driving up to the roof to christen the Boss Lady." Chuck looking Sarah in the eye with his wolfish smile.

"My god, how can you still be horny? They were just going at it before we came here." Anna said from her spot next to Melissa.

"Wow, good going boss! Twice in one day!" Melissa said giving him the thumbs up.

"Four time actually." Chuck said smiling.

"For you maybe, it's been like six for me" Sarah said smirking.

"I really didn't need to know that." Casey said face palming.

"Hey we're on our honeymoon people! Need I remind you that we just got married last week?" Chuck said.

"Yeah, we know. Now can we get back to the mission at hand?" Casey asked tossing a blueprint of the garage on to the hood of Chuck's car.

"HEY!" Chuck said snatching them off and giving Casey a dirty look. "Hands off the Car! She's fragile." Chuck said caressing the hood looking for scratches.

"Sorry, but it's not like I blew it up. I just used it as a table." Casey said smirking.

Chuck laughed. "Your never going to let me live that one down are you?" Chuck asked.

"No." Casey said giving Chuck the death glare.

"Melissa, I'm putting you in charge of finding Casey a replacement car. He'll give you all the specs. Money is no object." Chuck said.

"I'll start looking tomorrow boss." Melissa said excitedly.

"Now back to the mission." Chuck said as he turned around and toss the blueprints onto the hood of the Charger. "I'm supposed to meet these people right over there by that pillar. I want Victor's Mercedes S500 parked right there. Where is it?" Chuck asked looking around.

"I left it on the first floor Agent Carmichael." Jenifer said holing up the keys.

"Well park it over there when we're done here. I want Casey and Alex in the van on the first floor right here by the ramp. They're team one. Team two is Richard and Victoria in the Charger, I want them parked right here on the third floor with the engine running, and tactical weapons. Guys I'd go with an MP5 or an M4, but go with your gut we have a few of both in the van. I want Melissa and Jenifer in full tactical gear and weapons. I want you two in this stair well over here. I want you two to split up with one of you on the first floor and the other on the third floor. If we have a runner you'll be in place to catch them. I'll be playing the part of Victor and Anna and Sarah are going to play the part of my henchwomen. Ideally this is what's going to happen tonight, the buyers are going to pull up to Victor's car and get out. They hand over the money and when they do we'll arrest them. If more then the three people Victor said were coming to this meeting show up I want both teams to converge on our position and take them down. Hopefully we can do this peacefully and we can all go home. It's been a really long day for me and I'm looking forward to some sleep. Now are there any questions?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, I need a gun." Anna said.

"Right. I totally forgot about that. Did you have a gun on you when we knocked you out?" Chuck asked.

Everyone looked at each other not knowing what to do. Anna however didn't see the situation as being awkward. "No I did not. I was planning on drugging Sidorov and killing him slowly. Hopefully over a few days time." She said without any sign of emotion.

"Right. That makes sense. Um, what do you normally carry?" Chuck asked starting to feel the awkwardness of the whole thing.

"I don't care, as long as it's loaded." She said shrugging.

"Okay. Um Melissa, can you show your new friend to the van, and get her a gun please?" Chuck asked.

"Sure Chuck." Melissa said looping her arm with Anna's and walking to the van. "Come on let's get you a gun. You want something big or small. You're a small girl after all, but then again you are really tough." Melissa said excitedly.

Chuck looked at the remaining people still standing around. "Okay people I want this to be all over by 2:15 AM. I want to give the briefing to Beckman by three and I want to be in bed at Roark Tower by four because some of us have jobs to go to in the morning." Chuck said laughing. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to be indisposed for the next half hour." Chuck said jumping into his car with Sarah and peeling out up the ramp to the roof.

"Why was everyone so weird back there?" Anna said looking over the case of guns.

"Well I think the team is a little uncomfortable with the whole: we drugged you, and kidnapped you, and then now you're working with us. It's a little strange. I mean look at us. I was going to kill you earlier for hurting Chuck. Now were getting you a gun so you can back him up. I don't know what you two talked about in that room but you went from a dangerous flight risk to a trusted member of the team." Melissa said offering her a Glock19 like hers.

"How do you feel about it?" Anna asked making a face and handing the gun back.

"Chuck trusts you, so I trust you. It's that simple." Melissa said handing her a Sig229 like Chuck and Casey used.

"So you are, how you say? Chuck's man." Anna said.

"I am, I guess. He's been kind of a great addition to my life and I feel very lucky to have met him. I was like you once you know?" Melissa said.

"A rouge assassin on the run from her Government?" Anna said handing the Sig back to Melissa with a smirk.

"No silly! I was working for people that treated me like crap and took advantage of me. Then I met Chuck, and he changed all that. Now I'm a part of an elite team of spies working for the downfall of a very bad group of people." Melissa said handing her a Berretta PX4 storm.

"For me it's a little different. My whole life I've been told what to do, and how to do it. Trained to dedicate my life to Mother Russia, and for what? I have no family. I have no life. I have nothing. We lived on a military base. I watched my brothers and sisters go off on missions and never come back. I made peace with the fact that I am a tool to be used against the enemies of my Country. I knew I was going to be next. I am the last one left." Anna said sadly.

"Well not any more. You're a part of this team now. You're family now. So you have at least seven sisters and two brothers. Plus if you play your cards right you could join Charlie's Angels." Melissa said holding up her pendent.

"What is Charlie's Angels?" Anna asked attaching a silencer to her new gun.

"You've never heard of the TV show Carlie's Angels?" Melissa asked in shock.

"No. is it good?" Anna asked

"One of the best shows ever! It's about three women that were treated like crap by their bosses…"

Meanwhile upstairs Chuck and Sarah curled up on the back seat of The Boss Lady sweaty and breathing hard. "That was not your first time having sex in the back seat of a car was it?" Sarah asked with a look of pride on her face.

"It was not, bit it was the first time I've done it on leather seats." Chuck said running his hand over her naked body.

"That was not my first time either, but it was definitely the hottest time I've ever had in a car." She said blushing.

"Well if I can't be the first I might as well be the best. That's what my dad used to say. I'm pretty sure he was talking about computers though when he said it." Chuck said smirking.

Sarah thought about what he just said and started to laugh. "I'm pretty sure that was one of the strangest things I've ever heard anyone say after sex." Sarah said between laughs.

"Thank you I guess?" Chuck said with a small smile. He was about to say more when his phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was Casey. "Chuck we have eye's on the target. They just showed up in a black van." He said in his gruff voice.

"They're a bit early. Did they bring back up or are they alone?" Chuck asked sitting up.

"Looks like they're alone." Casey said.

"Good, send Anna up the stair with the key, me and Sarah will meet her in a few minutes." Chuck said getting up and pulling his pants on.

"How you wanna play this Chuck?" Sarah asked pulling her shirt back on.

"I Figure we'll talk a little bit. Feel them out. After they hand over the money we pull our guns out and have them surrender. At which point Casey will pull the van around the ramp and we'll toss them in it. If at any point they act at all threatening then I'll shoot them like I did Casey and Alex can patch them up when we get back to Castle. Either way I want to get this over with as fast as I can." Chuck said. As they made there way over to the stairs and down to the second floor. Anna came out of the shadows in the stair way and handed Chuck and Sarah ear buds.

"The Major says the go phrase is for you to tell me to hand over the keys Chuck." She said holding up the keys.

"Right, thank you Anna. Are you two ready for this." Chuck asked adopting his Russian accent half way through the sentence, and adding a predatory grin to his face.

"Lets do this Chuck." Sarah said hanging of his right arm with an airhead grin on her face.

"Da." Anna said copying her move on his left.

"Let's do this." Chuck said pushing the door open. He stumbled out into the garage laughing and talking loudly. "Come girls, lets do this meeting so we can get back to the room."

The five guys standing by the van turned to them. "Mr. S, I believe you have something for me?" The guy in front asked.

Chuck flashed on the leader of the group. His name was Jacob Cooper. He was the leader of one of those crazy Baptist churches that protested solders funerals and carried the God hates fags signs. Chuck really hated these guys. They were the lowest of the low in his book. But he kept it together and smiled. "Da, and you have payment?" Chuck asked letting go of the to girls and stumbling forwards until he was stand by the car.

"Let's see the merchandise first." Jacob said.

"It's in the trunk. Anna open the trunk." Chuck said. Anna pulled the keys out of her small handbag and popped open the trunk. Chuck waved at the stack of C4 bricks. "There you go. Now the money?" Chuck asked.

"Right. Vergil give him the bags." Jacob said.

One of the lackeys standing by the van pulled out a pair of duffle bags and tossed them at Chuck's feet. Chuck pulled the bags open and found bricks of cash. "This looks good. Anna, My Angel, toss him the Keys." Chuck said. In second both teams converged on them, with assault weapons out. Chuck smirked. "Jacob Cooper, you're under arrest for terrorist arms dealing." Chuck said. As Casey and the team slapped the cuffs on them.

After dropping the prisoners off at Castle and debriefing Beckman about the mission along with Anna's turning Chuck looked down at his watch and saw it was after four in the morning. Chuck kissed his wife good bye, and hopped into a cab with Kate and Melissa. When they got back to the apartment Melissa handed Chuck Kate's Angel. "I think she earned this, don't you?" She said.

"Yes I think she has." Chuck said clasping the chain around Kate's neck.

"Thank you Chuck. You have no idea what this means to me." She said misty eyed.

Chuck pulled her into his chest and kissed her forehead. "I know. Now it's late, lets get some rest." Chuck said.

Melissa grabbed some stuff. "I'm going to go sleep down stairs in Sam's apartment. I'll see you in the morning. Good night you two." She said walking out.

"Chuck, Can you help me with this zipper?" She asked turning around in his arms.

"Sure." He said pull it down. She let the straps fall off her shoulder and the dress pooled at her feet leaving her in nothing but a red lace thong.

She turned around and smiled a seductive little smile. "I seam to have forgotten my PJ's Chuck." She said in a seductive voice.

Chuck pulled a t-shirt out of his draw and slipped it over her head. "Problem solved. Now lets get some rest." He said kicking of his shoes and pants. Chuck slipped into bed and held the blanket up for her. She blushed at his rejection and nodded. She knew he would turn her down, but she had to see for herself. She slipped into bed and cuddled up to Chuck's side. Chuck wrapped his arms around her slender frame and held her close. He picked up her Angel pendent and held it in his hand. "My silver Angel. You're a lot like silver aren't you. Tarnished from years of use. But that's over now. We've taken you in and wiped all of that tarnish away. You'll never be used for your body again. The closest you'll come in the future is what we did tonight. You're an angel now. You're more then just a sex toy to be used. Your in charge. You may be my most dangerous Angel you know that right?" He asked softly as he breathed in her flowery scent.

"ME? Not Sam or Jordan?" She asked shocked.

"After next week you'll have all of their skills and more. But you have something they don't have." Chuck said smiling.

"What?"

"Remember the first thing I told you?" Chuck asked.

"That I was a thirteen." She said blushing.

"Still true. The fact that your six feet tall, super model stunning, and you have a cute accent. The fact that your going to be one of the worlds most lethal killers I think adds to that hotness. The fact that you can use that to your advantage is scary. You had Victor so crazy tonight that Anna's not going to have much fun with him because he's sing like a canary. You're going to have to do something nice for our newest Angel. You took away all her fun." Chuck said letting go of her pendent and laying his hands on her flat mid section.

"I thought I was the newest Angel?" she said with a pout.

"Kate you've always been one of my Angels. From the second I saw you and heard your story I wanted to protect you. Like Melissa I've amended the plan for my future to include you ladies." Chuck said smiling.

"Maybe I can get her Angel for her. Like Melissa got mine for me. I'm thinking tungsten." Kate said.

"Tungsten?" Chuck asked.

"It's the hardest metal in the world. And for Anna to make it to the age of 22 means she's made of some pretty strong stuff." Kate said sadly.

"She is something isn't she? I thought Sam had it ruff growing up. Anna never had a family at all. She's going to need a lot of love and support from her fellow Angels. I'm going to talk to my head Angel about it. I want you girls to try to include her in things. She's going to resist at first but I think she'll come around in the end." Chuck said softly as he rubbed small circles on her back.

"I'll try. She's scary though. She's so young, but she's got such old eyes. And they're so cold." She said shivering.

"That's what we have to change. We have to show her that we will take care of her. She's not alone. In a lot of ways she's like Sam. Trained from a very young age, dedicated her life to the cause. In other ways she's like Sarah. Always gets the job done no matter what, always working alone." Chuck said.

"Maybe we can find her someone to love? It worked for Sarah right?" Kate asked.

"It did. But she was looking for love when she met me. She didn't know it at the time but she was. I don't think Anna is looking for love. I don't even think she knows what love is. I think we need to show her what family is first, then we can start working on her love life." Chuck said laughing. She yawned. "It's late. We need to get some sleep. Good night my tall Angel." Chuck said kissing the top of her head.

"Good night Charlie." She said burying herself into him.


	22. Chapter 22

AN!: I just wanted to cover some questions/comments. First off I would like to say I wrote this story over the course of two-ish years. Every time I ran out of ideas for one of my other stories I would sit down an pen out another half chapter of this story. I saying this now because it never occurred to me how much extra marital sexual touching is in this story. With that being said I still don't think it's as bad as some people think it is because you guys are forgetting one key piece of information. Chuck has split personality disorder. He's two very different people. When he's anywhere but with Sarah at Castle he's a totally different man. I know you guys are going to call bull shit on that fact but later in the story this is a very key fact that really brings the story together. Chuck is only "Chuck" when he's with his wife, or when one of the Angels are crying on him and he's talking to them like a little sister. Any other time he's "Carmichael" and he could care less if he touches some woman, he's not married. He has no wife waiting for him at home. He's everything Chuck wishes he could be but he's too shy to be. Too weak to be. Too Chuck to be. And every time Carmichael does something worse, like rounding second base with Melissa that first night, or talking to Roark and acting like his friend even though he knows the man killed his parents. Everything not as bad before that becomes Okay to him. Later as he does more violent things and more agent type things in the chapters to come, barely touching some needy women and making her get off is not even going to faze him. Like I said if you can get to the end of this you'll see this will cause him some real problems. I know things are coming up roses for him at every turn but you have to keep looking at the big picture. The more Carmichael does the harder it's going to be for Chuck to be Chuck.

As for the sleeping with the Angels thing, that part didn't even register with me until I got the reviews and PM's. I guess I'm more of a tactile person but cuddling up to someone really doesn't faze me. He's not doing it in an incorporate way, and all of the Angels really need to it. In fact when Carmichael isn't feeling them up inappropriately Chuck treats them all like he does his sister, and we all know how tactile Ellie is. Haven't you ever held someone when they needed it? And Sarah knows about that part, remember the conversation she had with Melissa the first time they meet in Castle? She said Chuck was going to spend his time comforting the female agents on the team. Because that's the kind of guy chuck is. There's nothing inappropriate with that and if Sarah was the least bit comforting and Casey or someone other male agent on the team was in as bad of a situation as the Angels then Chuck would have absolutely no problem with the reverse situation. In fact in a few chapters the team goes on a mission where both Carmichael and Sarah have to seduce someone and Chuck doesn't even bat an eye. This isn't even that bad. This in sleeping with someone. Spooning, not Forking! :) so relax and see where we go from here. Things get more and less fun for Chuck, Sarah, and the whole team.

Chapter 22,

Chuck was shook awake by Melissa the next morning. "Get up Chuck, it's almost ten." She said.

Chuck came too holding Kate tightly around the waist with his leg thrown over her hip. "Why do I have to get up? It's nice and warm in bed. Come on join us Melissa." Chuck said

"Yeah. Come to bed. I'm still tiered." Kate said.

"We can't. We have a lot of work to do today. I have to go back to Castle and help them look over the files on the drive. And Chuck has to keep working on the download so he can zap us next week. Plus Sam is getting back today with Carina. Lets go, get up." She said pulling Chuck out of bed.

"Fine. But I want bacon if I have to get out of bed." Chuck said with a pout as he stumbled into the bathroom.

"You'll get bacon. Now get your ass dressed." She said pulling out a gray three piece suit for him, a light blue shirt, and gray tie. "Your clothes are on the bed." She said through the bathroom door. She came around the other side of the bed and brushed Kate's hair back. "How are you feeling?" She asked with a big smile.

"Special, and loved." She said blushing.

"I know the feeling. Come on, lets get you out of bed and get some food in your belly." She said pulling Kate out of bed and handing her a bath robe.

A little while later Chuck came out of the bedroom tying his tie. When he sat at the table Melissa put a plate of French toast with Bacon and eggs in front of him. "Thanks Melissa, this looks great." He said digging into his bacon.

"You're very welcome Chuck." She said with a smirk.

Chuck looked over at Kate and smiled. "Did you sleep okay last night? I tend to snore if I'm really tired like last night." Chuck said smiling.

"No, it was perfect. I liked it very much Chuck. Best night's sleep I've had in a long time." She said blushing.

"Well I'm glad some one got some sleep last night. Before I forget, was there anything you needed Chuck? I'm going to be out most of the day, I'll bring you lunch around two." She said stealing a piece of French toast off his plate with a smirk.

"Not that I can think of, oh! Can you make me dinner reservations for two at a nice place Jordan might like? I owe her a night off from Ted and I figured I'd do it tonight. In less you had something planed for us?" Chuck asked.

"I'll ask her about it later when I come to the office." She said.

"Good. I'll see you later then." Chuck said as he stood up from the table. He kissed Kate on top of her head and Melissa on the cheek before taking his bag and walking out.

Chuck spent the day downloading everything he could into his brain. He had the speed just right now and he was working out a brain level test that would determine the downloading speed needed for the rest of the team. It was mind numbing work, and Melissa spent most of her time sitting at Chuck's desk watching moves or playing video games.

Later that night he took Jordan out to dinner. For the most part it was a very relaxed evening for both of them. Chuck took the time to get to know his oldest Angel and Jordan soaked up the feeling of a normal date. She was also very happy that she wouldn't have to spend the night with Roark. That night after dinner they went back to Chuck's apartment. Melissa was spending the night with Sam and Kate so they had the apartment to themselves. "Have a seat on the couch. I'll get everything ready in just a few minutes." Chuck said as he plugged his computer into his big ass TV.

"What are we doing?" Jordan asked.

"I thought it would be nice to continue the relaxing feel of the night by watching a movie." He said bringing up the movie he downloaded earlier.

"What are we watching?" She asked sitting back on the couch.

"Melissa told me you liked the classics. So I downloaded Sabrina." Chuck said hitting play.

"I Love That Movie!" Jordan said excitedly.

"I know." Chuck said uncorking a bottle of red wine and grabbing two glasses. He filled one and handed it to her. "Your drink." He said. He then sat down next to her on the couch and pulled her legs up into his lap, and started massaging her feet.

"Oh Chuck, this is perfect." She said relaxing back deeper into the couch.

"I like taking care of you girls." Chuck said working on her feet and legs.

When the movie was over Chuck lead her to the bedroom and handed her a t-shirt. "You can change in the bathroom if you'd like." Chuck said getting undressed. By now it was becoming second nature to get undressed in front of a woman.

"That's okay, we're both adults here." She said letting her black dress fall to the floor showing off her insanely tight body incased in a black silk bra and thong set. Chuck also saw the bruising on her back and her ass. Chuck felt rage flow through him as he though about how she could have gotten those bruises. She turned around and unhooked her bra dropping it next to her dress. She pulled the t-shirt on and slipped under the covers next to him.

Chuck reached over and shut the light off. "Good night Jordan." He said softly.

"Chuck," She asked in the darkness of the room.

"Yes?" He asked sliding closer to her.

"Can you hold me please?" She asked just above a whisper.

"Of course I can Jordan." Chuck said sliding up behind her and pulling her to him. He felt her tense up at first and then, slowly she relaxed back into him. A few seconds later he felt her start to shake. "Jordan?" He asked softly. That's when the sob escaped her clenched jaw. "Oh Jordan. Let it out. I've got you. You're safe with me." Chuck said clutching her tightly to him as her body was rocked with sobs. The whole time he held her tightly to his chest and brushed his fingers through her hair the way Ellie liked. After a few minutes she stopped shaking and tried to pull away. "No, Jordan. It's okay, just relax, I've got you. You don't need to pull away. Just stay with me. I'll try everything in my power to make the hurt go away. To make the heart ach stop. Just let me." He said kissing her on the neck, and rubbing her side.

"Chuck, can you… can you please make love to me?" She asked softly.

"I can't Jordan, but a can make you feel loved." Chuck said softly. Kissing her on the shoulder.

"Please, Chuck. What ever you can do to make me feel human again." She said crying again.

Chuck rolled her over and kissed her. The kiss was long and full of love and passion. He trailed little kisses down her chin to her neck. He laid on top of her kissing her and running his hands through her hair. He broke the kiss. "I can't give you what you need, but I can make you feel pampered." Chuck said rolling her over. He started rubbing her neck. Rubbing the tension and stress out of her. When he was done with her neck he moved down to her shoulders. As he worked he felt her relax more and more. "Jordan I need to pull off the t-shirt." he said. She sat up a little and Chuck pulled the shirt off her head. He then went back to her shoulders. When he moved down her back she sighed softly. Chuck kept at his task until he worked over all of her back and arms. By then she was purring softly. Chuck rolled her over onto her side and spooned up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, and tossed a leg over her thigh. "Jordan. I love you very much. We all love you very much." Chuck said softly.

"I love you too Chuck." She sighed as she fell asleep.

Melissa slipped into the apartment just as the sun was coming up. She saw the wine glasses on the table and shook her head with a smile. Chuck really knew how to wine and dine them. However her smile slipped a little when she saw Jordan topless in bed with Chuck, and disappeared when she saw Chuck clutching Jordan's bare breast. "Jordan." She whispered waking the older woman. "Slide out of the bed nice and slow." She said holding out the shirt she had on last night. Jordan blushed when she saw Chuck's hand, and slipped out of bed as carefully as she could. She took the shirt and slipped it over her head. She followed Melissa out and watched as she shut the door. "What happened last night?" Melissa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I, well, I may have had a bit of an emotional breakdown last night. He held me and massaged my back and I fell asleep in his arms." Jordan said turning red.

"No," Melissa said crossing her arms. "You don't blush like that for a massage, and some cuddling. Not even topless. What did you do?" Melissa asked.

"I Don't like your tone, and why do you assume I did anything?" Jordan asked indigently.

"Because you're red, and acting defensive. Plus Chuck wouldn't do anything. You asked him to have sex with you, didn't you?" Melissa asked with knowing eyes.

Jordan looked down. "I did not!" she said but then she looked down and turned red "I did." She said feeling shame.

"It's okay. I can see it happening to someone in your shoes. It's a heady emotional high to be in that position. Being held in loving arms after close to a year of being used by that animal, but Chuck would never do it. You have to understand that." Melissa said leading the other woman to a chair by the table.

"I know. I don't even know why I asked in the first place. I was afraid he was going to kick me out of bed last night. I don't know if I could have taken that kind of rejection at this point." Jordan said softly.

"Chuck would never do that to you. He's the most understanding man I've ever met." Melissa said hugging her around the shoulders. "And if you ever need to feel loved you just come up and lay with him. He will hold you and kiss you, and make you feel special. And if you ever need to get fucked come to me and I'll make you cum till your eyes pop out." Melissa said smirking as she kissed Jordan's neck.

Jordan shot out of the chair. "Um.. No that's. um, no thank you. I um, I don't, you know, swing that way. Not that I'm judging you or anything. I just. I, I like boys?" Jordan said tongue tide.

Melissa held it together just long enough for her to finish her ramble before she lost it and started laughing. "I know that silly." She said in between giggles.

Jordan went form unsure to angry in a split second. "I'm Going To Kill You!" She said lunging at Melissa.

Melissa saw it coming and ran for the bedroom. She pulled open the door and dove into bed with a half awake Chuck. "Chuck! You have to protect me from her." She said pointing to Jordan as she ran into the room.

Chuck took one look between the two and then turned to Melissa. "What did you do?" He asked smirking.

"Nothing." She said looking innocent. Chuck raised an eyebrow and she smirked. "Okay, I might have made a really dirty pass at her and then laughed when she tried to reject me." She said smirking.

"Right. It's way too early for us to be up. Jordan come back to bed." Chuck said holding up the blanket for her.

"I really think I should go work out or something." Jordan said blushing as she thought about last night.

"I don't, get your ass in bed. It's way too early." Chuck said waving her over.

"Okay. I'll stay." She said slipping into bed with them.

"Good." Chuck said rolling up to her and pulling her to him. "And you, trouble maker. Get in too. We don't need to be at work for a long time yet." Chuck said reaching behind him for Melissa and pulling her into his back. "Now let's get some sleep." Chuck said kissing Jordan on the shoulder.

They slept in late and ended up not getting to the office until after ten. They walked in together and Chuck Kissed Jordan in the lobby before they split up to go their separate ways. When Jordan walked into Ted's office she saw the smirk on his face. "You're late. Carmichael must have kept you up last night." He said.

"You have no idea. The man is insatiable." She said blushing to sell the lie.

"Good, keep him happy and we'll have the Intersect up and running soon. I see more of myself in that guy every day. Hell I might even be proud of him." Ted said smacking Jordan on the ass as she handed him a stack of files. Jordan barely held in her need to rip his arm off and beat him to death with it.

Chuck spent the rest of the day loading anything he might have missed into his head. He then went over every skill he downloaded and weighed the pros and cons. If the skill was useful for the up coming missions then he wrote it down on a list. by the end of the day he had a good list of skills he wanted every member of the team to get. He handed Melissa the list.

"Look this over and see if you can spot something useless." He said.

Melissa looked at the legal pad he handed her.

The top 13 languages spoken in the world

Driving skills

10 fighting styles

Lock picking

Safe cracking

Shooting

Knife throwing

Knife fighting

Sword fighting

Parcore

Gymnastics

Skiing

Snowboarding

The CIA Spy craft handbook

Stealth

Dancing

Bomb construction and disarming

Three different sex guides

Rock climbing

Hacking

Skydiving

Flying

Survival skills

"This looks good to me, but you missed a few things. You told me that thing you did to Jordan the other day at breakfast when you put her on her ass was a mix of fighting and acupuncture. You might want to think about the fastest way to put someone down and add the other skills you use for it." She said handing the list back to him.

"You're right. I forgot about that. I also want you all to have the full Fulcrum agent list uploaded so you guys can spot a threat." Chuck said stretching.

"That's a good idea Chuck." She said standing up.

"Lets get out of here. What are we doing tonight?" Chuck said tossing things into his bag.

"Your taking me, Kate, and Sam out to dinner. Or your car and our phones are going out to dinner. We are going to Castle for a mission briefing." Melissa said.

"Right. I can also spend some time with my wife. Let's pick up the girls and get some pizza." Chuck said heading to the elevator.

Sarah was feeling off all day. She slept in late. She stepped on the bar of soap in the shower and took a fall that almost killed her. She got strawberry jelly on her favorite gray top, and lastly, when she got to Castle she found out she had nothing to do. Anna was torturing all of the information she could out of Sidorov. Casey was spending the day with Major Snow and his family. Victoria and Richard were working with Melissa over the phone to coordinate the fake date they were going to have later. Jenifer was out shopping for clothes to better blend in with the crowd in LA. Alex was reviewing financial records, and Carina was looking over Fulcrum files trying to pin down the people looking after Bobby in the conference room, or at least they was trying to. Sarah kept pacing back and forth and distracting the two. On her fifth pass Alex looked up. "Was there something you needed Agent Walker?" She asked.

"Yes, no… I don't know. I, I have nothing to do and I need something to do." She mumbled as she kept pacing.

"Just ignore her. She's got a craving for Chuck. She needs to get laid real bad." Carina said without looking up.

"I Do Not!" Sarah said stopping in her tracks. Carina raised an eyebrow. "Okay. So maybe I do, but it's more then that. For the last two days I've been clumsy, and out of it. I have no idea what's wrong with me." She said plopping down in a chair at the table, or at lest she tried to, she ended up missing the chair, losing her balance, and falling on her ass. "SEE! THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" She screamed in frustration.

Alex shot out of her seat and helped her up. "You said this started happening yesterday?" She asked looking her over with a flashlight she pulled off the shelf.

"Yes and it keeps getting worse." Sarah said rubbing her hip.

"Well, you don't have any signs of brain trauma, or an ear infection. Can you stand up for me?" She said making Sarah stand with her arms out to the side. "Do you feel dizzy?" She asked as she slowly pulled on her left arm making her lean over.

"No, not at all." Sarah said starting to get worried.

"Then it's not your balance. Huh?" Alex said motioning for her to take a seat again. "Is there something you can do that almost no one else can?" Alex asked.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"Like a skill, you know, like throw a ball really hard, or play darts, or something like that?" She asked looking puzzled.

"She can throw a knife like no one else." Carina said coming over to see what was going on.

"Okay." Alex said grabbing a zipplock bag of trail mix off the table and a roll of tape. She stuck the bag to the wall opposite where they were sitting and stood back. "Hit the bag." She said.

"Okay, but I don't see what this will prove." Sarah said pulling a small knife out of her boot and threw it at the bag. The knife landed three inches away from the bag and dented the metal wall.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Carina yelled.

"It's what I thought." Alex said shaking her head.

"What!? Am I dieing!?" Sarah asked panicked.

"No, but you definitely have a case of the yips." Alex said picking up the knife.

"The yips?" What the hell is that?" Sarah asked.

"It's the yips. You've never heard of the yips before?" Carina asked smirking.

"No. is it bad? Can I take something for it?" Sarah asked.

"No. The yips is when an athlete falls off their game. They start over thinking things and they can't do simple things like throw a tight spiral or hit a ball. For some players it just effects their game on the field, but a bad case can make the player clumsy, and feel disoriented. You must have them real bad." Alex said

"But I'm not an athlete." Sarah said.

"In a way you are. It's just your sport is field work." Carina said deep in thought.

"But I can't have the yips. This is crazy." Sarah said.

"There's a way we can test this you know?" Alex said.

"How?" Sarah asked.

"We set up a bunch of tests and if you fail most of them you've got the yips." She said. "So far you failed one test. Knife throwing. What else are you good at?" She said picking up a note pad and drawing two columns.

Two hours later Carina, Alex, Casey, Major Snow, Anna, Richard, Jennifer, and Victoria were standing on the roof of the Orange-Orange watching Sarah fail to make the sharp left turn into the alley behind the Buy More and almost hit a Nerd Herder. She spun out skidding to a halt next to the loading dock. She came around the parking lot slowly and parked in her spot. When she walked into Castle she looked sad. "How bad is it?" She asked.

"Well you passed the advanced hand to hand combat test." Alex said with a happy smile. "But you failed the knife throw, the handgun test, the assault weapons test, the lie detector test, and you almost wrecked your car in the parking lot." Alex said which set Carina off.

"Laugh it up bitch. This is the only time you'll be better then me." Sarah said throwing a pen at her which sailed clear over her head and almost hit Anna. "Sorry." She said looking sad. "How can I break this?" She said.

"It's different for everyone. One time, when I was playing softball in college I got a case of the yips and they lasted two games. Then I get hit by a pitch in my first at bat on the third game and went on to hit two homeruns. Then again I knew this one girl that got them so bad she broke her leg sliding into third base and never played again." Alex said.

"Great, so all I have to do is get hit by a pitch." Sarah said letting her head droop onto the table top.

"What you need is a mission Walker." Casey said. "When was the last time you were out in the field?" Casey asked thinking.

"What are you talking about? We had a mission two night's ago?" She said.

"No I mean a real mission that required you to do some real work. It was before the holidays. You haven't had to think on your toes since before Chuck went undercover. Since then Chuck's been doing almost all of the planning." Casey said.

"Do you really think that could be it?" she asked looking hopeful.

"Yes, I really do. You're not used to down time. Maybe Chuck will have something for you. He'll be here for the briefing soon. I have a three man tactical team making the car exchange right now." Casey said.

"You're right. I just need to get out in the field again." She said with hope in her eyes.

Chuck, Sam, Kate, and Melissa showed up a few minutes later carrying a big stack of pizza boxes. "I Brought Dinner!" Chuck said dropping the boxes on the conference table. "I figured we could eat while we talked out the missions. We have 36 target location spread out over 10 cities so I grouped the mission files together by city, and assigned a team member to each city based on skills and experience. If I got it wrong and someone else would be better suited then speak up and tell me. I'll make adjustments to the plan. Are we all on board so far?" Chuck asked and got a lot of head nods. "Good we are going to start with D.C. first. There are 9 target locations in and around the D.C. area." Chuck said pulling up a file marked D.C. and clicking on target 1. "Now I assigned my wife to this location because one of the targets is a sleeper agent on the President's protection detail, and she has friends on the PPD. That's target one. Target two is this warehouse that is used for weapons storage. Targets 3&4 are two offices in this building. They are fronts for agents. Every person working there is a Fulcrum agent, but most of them are annalists so after you shoot a few agents they should come quietly. Targets 5&6 are this dock, and this warehouse. They are the import and illegal trade ports. Target 7 if this up scale manor house. Most of fulcrum high command live here so expect a lot of resistance. Target 8 is this office that houses their spying station for the Pentagon. Target 9 is a hanger with two Blackhawk helicopters and two G6 jets. This location just needs to be secured. When I was first making these files we only had nine team members, but with you three we have a lot more fire power then I first thought, because of this I would also like to assign Casey to help out with the D.C. mission. I figured you could start the day off by picking Bobby up and then shooting the sleeper agent before he goes to work." Chuck said.

"I like it. It's clean, and well planed." Sarah said smiling.

"I can see why you would want the two of us in D.C. are any of the other missions as bad as this?" Casey asked.

"Yes, and no. target wise this it the worst, but a few of the other mission come with their own set of problems. Like the New York mission headed up by Sam. This has 6 targets spread out over three burrows. It's a total pain in the ass to get to a few of them. Starting with target 1 which is this office building in Queens. It's a small building housing an accounting firm. The kicker is none of the employees have accounting degrees. It's a logistics center for the east coast. a few guards and about forty computer geeks. Target two is this warehouse containing everything from a tactical response team to a few tanks. The worst part about this place is it's right next to a few other warehouses full of very expansive import/export business so we can't blow it up. Target 3 is an old underground subway station used as a black site for prisoners. This place is big and there are only a few entry points, but it looks like it's rarely used. Target 4 is this hotel used as a front for their drug trade. Figure everyone in the place is ether a Fulcrum agent or junky, or a hooker on the payroll. NYPD Vice is going to have a field day with this place. Target 5 is the hardest of the hard. It's this factory in Staten Island that houses the Fulcrum training and shooting range like the one here in L.A. but if you think you could take it out easier by blowing it up go right ahead, the area is pretty dead. And lastly target 6 is a hanger with two Harriers, and a G6." Chuck said.

"Shit Chuck, way to throw a girl right in to the fire." Sam said looking a little pale.

"That's why you're getting help. Take Jen, Rick, or Vicky with you." Chuck said pointing to the three new comers.

"I would like to go, I have a brother on the NYPD SWAT team that can help us with the mission." Rick said.

"Good, Anna, you're going to handle Scott's extraction, but if I gave you some help could you handle the other two targets here in L.A.?" Chuck asked.

"What are the targets?" She asked sitting up in her seat.

"Well we have target one being this warehouse/shooting range and this hanger housing two G6 jets and three Blackhawk choppers is target two." Chuck said bringing up the plans for the two targets.

"Da. I will take the tall blond." She said.

Victoria smirked. "I Guess she's talking about me?" She said.

"Okay then it's settled. Moving right along we have Boston. There are 3 targets in Boston. I would like Major Snow to head up this mission. Target 1 is a warehouse full of guns and bad guys. Target 2 is this office building full of computer geeks, and target 3 is this hanger with a G6. You don't need any help with this I'm guessing?" Chuck asked.

"No I think I got that. Hell I got off light it looks like." He said.

"Carina, I need you in Austin Texas. Fulcrum has two drug processing plants there. I need you to team up with local DEA and hit them both." Chuck said pulling up the two locations.

"Can do Chuck." She said winking.

"Good, I knew I could count on you. Melissa. I need you to go back home to Chicago. Fulcrum set up 5 locations in the city. Target 1 is this office in the downtown Loop it houses the logistics guys and a few agents. Target two is this Warehouse next to O'Hair airport. They use this place to ship things back and forth between the east and the west coast. Target 3 is this factory it looks like a supply house. Target 4 is this Hotel that houses their drug trade, and hookers. The last target is this hanger with a G6 in Midway airport. Not too hard but I would take some help." Chuck said smiling.

"That's okay Chuck, I have some family on the Chicago PD. I think I'll call in a few favors my cousin owes me." She said smiling.

"I would still like you to take Jenifer with you. It's better to be over prepared." Chuck said.

"Okay, Chuck. This could be fun." She said bumping shoulder with Jenifer.

"Okay. Alex, you're going to the city of brotherly love. Bring back cheese stake sandwiches will you?" Chuck asked

"That depends on if you make me work hard Chuck." She said laughing.

"Not too hard. 3 targets only. A warehouse, a dock, and this hotel where they run drugs and hookers. So am I getting a sandwich?" Chuck asked.

"If I have time I'll pick you up some." She said looking at the blueprints.

"Now that's what I'm talking about. Kate, have you ever traveled to the Mile high city?" Chuck asked opening the Denver file.

"No I can't say that I have." She said looking at the file.

"Well you will in two weeks. 2 target locations. This warehouse and this office building." Chuck said bringing up the building plans.

"Not too bad." She said excitedly.

"with those missions covered we only have two left. This building in the Nevada desert could be nothing, or it could be a secret underground base full of guys. The problem is I just don't know. I think we send a tactical team to scout it out and the first person finished with their missions should go there and lead the team. If it turns out to be something bigger we will hold position and everyone will converge on the target." Chuck said bringing up the almost empty file. "This last mission is going to go to Morgan. I'm going to upload him next week and I'm sure he'll be ready to go by the time of the mission. He only has one target, but it's very important. He's going to hit this air base on the Mexican border. It houses a B1-B bomber and with a nuclear cruse missile on board. If however you think he is not ready for the mission by then we will switch out Victoria for him and send her down there to get the plane. I read her file and saw she had some experience with nuclear tomahawks." Chuck said.

"Do you really think you could trust Morgan with a nuclear missile?" Sarah asked.

"I do. He's one of the most trust worthy guys I know and I know with a intersect download he could pull it off. In fact a want all of you guys to get a download. Not a full one like I got but at least the Fulcrum personnel file and the mission files so you guys can lead your team through the building without getting lost and be able to spot agents in a crowd. I think it would also be a good idea for you all to pick through the master list I'm uploading into Melissa, Morgan, and Kate. You guys all saw what I could do, I think it's crazy to not take advantage of the skills you could gain." Chuck said.

"I don't know Chuck, won't it fry our brains?" Casey asked.

"No, it's all about the download speed. I am in the process of writing a program that will help us find your download speed. I should have it done by Sunday. I also need a few things. I got the list right here. Two dentist chairs. Tube steal. Six 20" computer monitors. Two RI 3000 series towers. A grinder and welding gear." Chuck said reading off the list. "I need all of those things by tomorrow night."

Everyone broke up at about nine and Chuck dragged Sarah into holding cell three for a little alone time. They made the car switch at just before eleven and they all piled into bed by midnight.

Saturday morning Chuck awoke to someone elbowing him in the chest. "Oh. Who did that?" He asked looking around. He was laying under three women. Melissa was sleeping on his chest, Sam was hugging his left arm with her head on his shoulder and Kate was plastered to his right side with her head on Chucks pillow. He looked at the clock and stretched, waking Melissa up.

"Hay, why did you move for, I was dreaming." She said sliding up and kissing him in the chin.

"I had to, my whole body is asleep. I can't feel anything. I have to get up. It's after nine and I have to finish encoding the speed program. I want Roark to see me working hard on the weekends so he wont question where we go tonight. I have to build the two downloading stations tonight." Chuck said.

"Why are you two talking? You woke me up with your chitchatting." Sam said.

"Me too. I was having a very nice dream thank you very much." Kate said stretching out her long frame and pulling down the dress shirt she took from Chuck last night.

"Come on lets get up and have some breakfast." Chuck said sitting up.

"Okay, but I want bacon." Melissa said rolling off Chuck so he could get up,

Twenty minuets later Chuck was dressed in the blue pants and vest from the suit with the bullet hole in it. "Do I have to go in to work with you today or can I lounge around the apartment all day?" Melissa asked munching on bacon.

"I don't see why you would need to be there. If I needed anything I could just ask Jordan for it." Chuck said cutting his waffles.

"You could always come shopping with me." Kate said. "I Need more clothes now that I'm staying in L.A."

"I Guess I could tag along if both of you are going." Sam said.

"So all of you are going out shopping and having fun, but I have to go to work?" Chuck said

"Yep, sucks to be you Chuck." Melissa said.

"Life is totally not fair." Chuck said. He didn't know how true those words were. At lest not until Ted showed up at his office door and insisted they go out to dinner on a double date with Jordan and Melissa. Dinner that night turned out to be not so bad considering two people at the table wanted to kill Ted and the third wanted to help. Dinner dragged on until nine and by the time Chuck made it to Castle it was close to ten.

Sarah was waiting for him at the door to Castle. Chuck pulled her into a heart stopping kiss. "I've missed you Mrs. Carmichael. It's been almost a whole day." He said looking her in the eyes with his wolfish grin. "I have a lot of work to do tonight, but I think I can spare an hour for a little us time. What do you say Mrs. Carmichael, would you object to spending an hour with me someplace private?" Chuck asked in a voice dripping with sex.

Sarah's knees got weak when she heard his proposal. She attacked his mouth. "I would like that very much Mr. Carmichael." Chuck picked her up and carried her off to holding cell three.

Chuck spent the rest of the night building two download chairs. The set up was simple really. A dental chair, with three monitors on a frame work that swung into place in front of your face. But it was time consuming to cut the tub steel and weld the frame together. At about midnight Melissa, Sarah, Carina, Anna, and Alex left him to go out and get something to eat. After they left him alone to work in peace Chuck lost track of time.

Chuck was roused from his sleep by the ringing of his iPhone.

"What?" He asked dumbly.

"Chuck we've got a problem." Sarah slurred out.

Chuck shot out of his seat and saw he was sleeping in one of the Intersect transfer chairs. "What's the problem?" He asked rolling his neck.

"Morgan came through the Morgan door, and Alex kicked his ass. He's laying on your bed right now knocked out, but I'm sure he saw her. This is going to be very hard to explain to him." Sarah said giggling drunkenly.

"How did you guys end up at the apartment? The last I saw of you four you were going out for something to eat." Chuck said scratching his head.

"Well the only place we could find open was a bar. We had burgers and beers and that lead to more beers which lead to a club that Melissa knew that stayed open till six in the morning. We got back to the apartment about… um I'm not even sure how we got back to the apartment to tell you the truth. I think Alex drove? She was kind of holding back on us last night I think. I know I sure as hell wasn't. Nether was Melissa and Anna. They got into a drinking contest about half way through the night. Never try and out drink a small Russian girl Chuck I'm telling you now. She can just keep putting it away. Melissa passed out at the bar and she didn't even wake up with all of the commotion in the apartment. In fact hold on." He heard Sarah yell at Alex to check if Melissa was still breathing. "Yeah she's okay. She's a very quiet sleeper." Sarah rambled on.

"Do you think you can move him without waking him up?" Chuck asked trying not to laugh. His wife was obviously a fun drunk. So were the other girls it seamed.

"No, he'll get up eventually." she said laughing. "Stop poking him Anna. He's not a toy. What!? No you can't keep him, he's Chuck's friend. No he's not Russian, I think he's some kind of Spanish. Hold on! Chuck, what kind of Spanish is Morgan? Anna want's to know. I think she likes him." Sarah asked. 

"Sarah, honey can you put Alex on the phone please?" He asked holding his face.

"Did I say something bad again?" Sarah asked sadly.

"What makes you say that baby?" He asked softly he didn't want to have another fight with her over the phone.

"Because the last time you wanted to talk to someone else besides me, you was mad at me. You're not mad at me again right?" She asked close to tears.

"No honey, I'm not mad at you. I love you very much, but Morgan might be hurt and Alex has medical training. I just need to asked her some questions okay? Can you put her on the phone please?" He asked sweetly.

"Oh okay. I love you too Chuck, very much. I don't say that enough you know that? I need to say it more often. Melissa thinks I need to appreciate you more. Is she right? If she is I'm very sorry Chuck. I love very much. Hold on. Anna put his shirt back down… I don't care if he's hairy like a wolf. You put his shirt back down and leave Chuck's friend alone right now young lady! Oh really? You think you can take me!? I'M SARAH FUCKING WALKER! Alex hold this phone while I go show this little girl who I am. Come at me Bitch!" Chuck looked at the phone and didn't know what to do. On the one hand this was the weirdest conversations he'd ever had, on the other hand he was trying very hard not to laugh at it. He heard Alex tell Carina to pull the two off each other.

"Hello?" Alex asked picking up the phone off the ground.

"Alex what the hell is going on over there?" Chuck asked walking into the conference room.

"Well last night Melissa pointed out that Sarah never had a bachelorette party, so they all got really hammered last night, and went dancing. I spent most of the night keeping them out of trouble. At about four in the morning after Melissa passed out from trying to out drink Anna I asked the bartender to start watering down their drinks. I dragged them out of the club at six when they were closing the doors and cleaning up. I had some of the bouncers pack them all into the big SUV I took and brought them back here. I put Sarah in the master bedroom and Carina climbed into bed with her. She said something about them being sisters before she passed out. I put Melissa on the sofa and Anna curled up in one of the chairs in the living room. I passed out in your bed about an hour ago. I woke up when I heard someone open the window. I thought I was a burglar so I slipped out of bed and clocked him in the head with the but of my gun when he climbed into the window. That was about fifteen minutes ago." Alex said exasperated.

"Are you sure he's okay?" Chuck asked remembering that Alex carried a Blackwater Sig226. That was a big, heavy gun, and Morgan was kind of a small guy.

"Yeah, he fine. I checked him over before I got Sarah. I didn't know her contribution to the situation was to yell at me and wake the rest of the house up. How the hell was I supposed to know he's your friend? I've never even met the guy." Alex said.

"Can you bring him here without waking him up?" Chuck asked.

"I don't think so. I knocked him out about fifteen minutes ago. I'd say he's going to start coming around in about five minutes.

"Can you tranq him without causing damage to his brain?" Chuck asked pacing the conference room.

"Sure if I hit him with a .2 dart, anything more and I don't think he'll get back up." Alex said.

"Well stick him with a dart and bring him to Castle. I needed him on the team anyways. This seams like a good time to tell him what's going on. And can you tell my assistant to bring me two huge Starbucks Carmel fraps with three shots?" Chuck asked picking up his dress shirt off the chair and sniffing it. He shrugged and put it on.

"Sure I can. I don't think it's a good idea for any of the other women to come. I think they all need to sleep it off. Especially Sarah, and Carina. I'll drag Melissa out to the car, but I don't think she's going to get you anything. I'm pretty sure she's still drunk like the rest of them." Alex said.

"That's okay. Just get them here, and after I talk to Morgan I'll take everyone out to breakfast. How's that sound Alex?" He asked with a smile she could hear over the phone.

"You got yourself a deal Mr. Carmichael. I'll be there in about twenty minutes. I need to get dressed and I need to get them both out to the car." Alex said blowing out her breath thinking about that fact she had to carry someone again.

"Why don't you see if Casey is up yet and have him lug the two of them out to the car?" Chuck suggested.

"You know what, that's a good idea. I'll see you in a bit." She said hanging up.

Chuck found the rest of his clothes in interrogation room three. By the time he brushed his teeth, washed his face, and got dressed Alex opened the door to Castle and helped Melissa walk down the stairs. "Your friend is in the back seat of the black Tahoe out front." Alex said setting a tray of Starbucks on the table.

"Good job Alex, and you brought me coffee too? You're really trying to get a spot on the team permanently aren't you?" Chuck asked with a smirk.

"No I know I'm on the team. Sarah said so last night, and Carina agreed. I'm going to be the newest Cat or something. I'm not sure what they're talking about, they were pretty smashed when they said it all last night." Alex said taking a cup and sitting at the table.

"So they got their claws into you before Melissa could give you an angel huh?" Chuck asked laughing as he walked out of the room.

Alex turned to Melissa who was just coming around. "What's he talking about?"

"He's pointing out the fact that they recruited you to the C.A.T. squad before I could offer you a spot on Charlie's Angels. Which is so not fare by the way. You didn't even get a chance to be around Chuck before they got to you." Melissa said acting affronted. "Is that coffee?" Melissa asked sniffing the air.

"Yes it is. What's a Cat and what's a Charlie's Angel, you know aside from being a cat and a TV show." Alex asked handing Melissa a cup.

"C.A.T. stands for Clandestine Attack Team. And being an angel is just like the TV show except we work for Chuck. Being a C.A.T. is cool I guess but being an angel is way better." Melissa said showing Alex her angel pendent. "Of course I'm not very objective. I'm head angel after all." Melissa said savoring her dark chocolate caramel cappuccino. She was glad she was awake enough to ask Alex to get it for her. It's the only thing that helped with a hang over.

"And how did you become the Head angel?" Alex asked as they watched Chuck carrying Morgan over his shoulder headed towards one of the holding cells.

"I told Chuck and he didn't correct me." Melissa said laughing.

"So it was a hard fought position." Alex asked laughing along with her.

"Hey I made it up so I get to be head angel." Melissa said proudly. This set the both of them off again.

Chuck walked up to them and smiled. "What's so funny ladies?" He asked grabbing his coffee off the tray.

"I was just saying that it's not right for Sarah to make Alex a C.A.T. without me offering her a spot on your team as an angel. She could be the smart angel." Melissa said.

"You do know that no matter what you guys call yourselves, Angel or C.A.T. we are all on the same team right? We all work together. I'm going to look after you girls no mater what, as will the rest of us. I will say that I'm very touched by the whole Angel thing, but Melissa not every woman you meet needs to wear an Angel pendent you know? I love you guys but, at the end of the day, angel or C.A.T. we all work for the same goals as one team. With that being said I think it's way cooler to be an angel then a C.A.T." Chuck said smirking.

"That's right. The C.A.T. squad's got nothing on the angels. We're cooler, we're tougher, and we're hotter!" Melissa said striking am angel pose.

"I think you Angels have an unfair advantage over the C.A.T.s you're all either Veteran agents Like Sam, Jordan, and Anna or you have a full Intersect download like You, and Kate." Chuck said. "Plus there are five of you against Sarah, Carina, Zondra, and Alex here. Not really fair if you ask me."

"Yeah but they have your crazy Amazon wife leading them." Melissa said.

"You really don't like Sarah at all do you?" Chuck asked smirking.

"I do but I promised to keep her honest and humble. We agreed that means we can't be friends all the time. Plus we agreed that if you two ever break up I get first dibs on you.

"You are way too in to the whole angel thing. You must have really liked that show growing up didn't you?" Chuck asked laughing.

"I really did. I loved that show. When I was first approached by the NSA all I could think about was being like the women on that show. I thought I was going to go undercover and route out the bad guys. I thought I was going to be so cool. Instead I was used as a sex toy and treated like crap. So when I got the chance to be an angel I took it. I latched on to the idea and ran with it. I work for Charlie now. He gives me missions. Real, honest missions. And soon I'm going to have super secret spy skills. So I try and get more girls to join me. Just because there were three angels on the show doesn't mean there can't be more in real life." Melissa said smugly.

"Right. For the record we all think you're crazy, but we still love you, and that's what it means to be family." Chuck said slinging his arm around her shoulder.

"I know, isn't great." She said smiling.

"Alex, when do you think Morgan will start coming around?" Chuck asked.

Alex looked down at her watch. "Soon I hope. If he's not up in the next fifteen minutes then we might need to rush him to a hospital." She said looking really unsure which did nothing to curve Chuck's fears.

"I think I'll go sit with him." Chuck said grabbing the second cup of caramel cappuccino. He stopped off at the kitchen and dumped ten packs of sugar in it and continued on to the holding cell. Taking a seat in the chair Chuck looked at his little buddy. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked beat. Big Mike must have him working overtime to cover the shifts he took off, Chuck thought. He watched as Morgan's eyes started to flutter, and his head shake. "Morgan? Little Buddy? You in there?" Chuck asked shaking his shoulder.

"Chuck? CHUCK! You're Back! Ouch! Why dose my head hurt?" He asked sitting up and holding his head.

"Because we had a house guest sleeping in my room and she clocked you over the head thinking you were trying to rob the place." Chuck said handing over the coffee.

"Really?" Morgan asked shaking his head. "Oh yeah, now I remember. Who was the hottie that hit me?" Morgan asked smirking.

"Her name is Alex. She's going to be working on the team. Which makes no sense to you now but in an hour it will. Lets start at the beginning. Remember my birthday party two years ago? Remember how odd I started acting after that? And Sarah showed up like two days later…" Chuck spent the next hour telling Morgan everything. From the missions he went on to the truth about his relationship with Sarah, and even the mission he was on now. "I'm telling you all of this because I want you to join the team Morgan. I need you Little Buddy." Chuck said.

"You know I'll follow you anywhere Chuck. Does this mean no more Buy More?" Morgan asked.

"It means no More Buy More. No more low paying, meaningless job. From now on it's going to be spy skills and jet setting around the world. I can tell you my two years of service have been some of the most fulfilling times of my life, and now I get to share it with you." Chuck said showing Morgan to rest of Castle.

"So I would be like your assistant?" Morgan asked excitedly.

"No you would be a full member of the team." Chuck said walking into the gun range.

"But I'm not like you Chuck. I don't have any skills. I don't even know the first thing about this stuff." Morgan said waving a the rack of assault weapons.

"Sure you do." Chuck said pulling a glock 19 off the wall. And checking to make sure it was empty. "Here, tell me what it is." Chuck said tossing him the gun.

Morgan caught it and looked shaky. "It's a Glock Chuck." He said dropping the mag out and racking the slide. "Empty thankfully." He said putting it on the table by the wall.

"And how do you know that?" Chuck asked.

"Video games, you know that. But knowing it's a Glock and knowing how to shoot it are two different things." Morgan said shaking his head.

Chuck clipped a target up and sent it down range to the end of the back wall. "See that target? It's at the back wall which is thirty yards out." Chuck asked.

"Yeah?" Morgan asked.

"Well what if I told you that in minutes you could do this." Chuck said before pulling his Sig 229 out and firing. He called the target back and showed Morgan to hole in the center.

"Man Chuck, that's insane!" He said looking at Chuck in awe.

"You think I came by that skill through practice? Look at that shoot, it's superhuman. No one could do that. It's something out of the Terminator. Remember the computer in my brain? That's what you could achieve in just a few hours. Morgan I want to give you those skills. I want you to be my go to guy out there in the field. I have a very important mission for you to do, but I can't send you out to do it without the skills. Would you want those skills? I want you to think about this very hard Morgan. Because they come with a job, and once you take that first mission there is no going back Little Buddy." Chuck said very seriously.

"I understand Chuck. If I'm in, then I'm in for life." Morgan said deep in thought.

"Yes. But you would be in with us. Me, Sarah and Casey. Also a bunch of people you don't know yet. Two of them being Melissa and Alex who we're going out to breakfast with." Chuck said.

"Can I think about it Chuck?" Morgan asked looking ashamed.

"Sure you can. Look you have until Monday to give me an answer, but no mater what you're going to be working for me now." Chuck said pulling Morgan's name tag off. "No more Buy More for you. You're way too important to me to be wasting away working retail. You can work logistics and planning with my two annalists or you can work at Roark Industries in any department you want. You are my Best Friend and I'm not keeping any more secrets from you." Chuck said.

"Hey I thought I was your best friend!" Melissa said coming in to the firing range with Alex.

"You are my best girl friend. How about that?" Chuck asked pulling her into a hug.

"Okay, now you said something about Breakfast?" She asked excitedly.

"I did. Morgan, meet Alex, and Melissa. Two of the best of the best spies in the world, and your future team mates." Chuck said.

"It's nice to meet you both." Morgan said shaking Melissa's hand.

"Oh non of that. We're family." She said pulling Morgan into a big hug smashing him into her huge boobs. When she let go Morgan had a kind of dazed look in his eyes. 

"Right, I forgot to mention Melissa is a bit more hands on then you're used to. Alex was there something you wanted to say?" Chuck asked with a smirk when he saw her blush.

"I'm sorry I clocked you Morgan." She said smiling cutely.

"No Harm, no fowl. It's nice to meet you from this angle. When we met earlier you were upside down." Morgan said smirking.

"Yeah, well I really am sorry." She said turning red.

"You can make it up to me with bacon." Morgan said offering her his arm as they walked out of the room together.

"Wow, will you look at that?" Chuck said looking confused.

"I know, right. Love at first concussion." Melissa said laughing.


	23. Chapter 23

Alex dropped Chuck and Melissa off at his car and picked up Vicky and Rick. From the state of their clothes and the fact that they met them in front of a Hotel it was obvious what they were doing all night long. A fact that Melissa couldn't help laughing about it. "I'm starting to think it's the air or something out here. Everyone is hooking up." She said smirking.

"I'm starting to think it's the team." Chuck said.

They were greeted by Roark when they got back to the tower. "Had a late night did we?" He asked with a smirk.

Chuck remembered what Rick said and lied smoothly. "Yes well we hit this little bar that makes the best drinks, and we walked on the beach, and after that we ended up at a Hotel by the pier because we were both way too hammered to drive." Chuck said smirking.

"Well you had me worried for a minute Chuck. I though we lost you." Ted said.

"No, you just misplaced me for a few hours. But since I have you now are you going to be free in a few hours? I'm putting the finishing touches on a little program and I wanted to show you it." Chuck said pulling a RI military grade flash drive out.

"Yes I'll be in my pent house all day. Is it something from the Intersect?" He asked all giddy, and smiles.

"No It's even better, it's the key to unlocking the download speed problem. With this we can figure out the speed someone can handle." Chuck said waving the drive.

"I've got to see this." Ted said almost hopping from foot to foot.

"You can in a few hours, I still need to make some final adjustments. I don't want it to fry your brain after all." Chuck said laughing.

"No we wouldn't want that." Ted said smirking.

"See you in a few Ted." Chuck said as he and Melissa got off the elevator on their floor.

"That was close wasn't it?" Melissa asked shutting the door to the apartment and watched Chuck scan the room for bugs.

"We're clear. And for the record, yes it was, that's why I always keep something with me. If I ever get into hot water I can pull it out and show him." Chuck said taking his shirt off on the way to the bedroom. When he got out of the shower Melissa was waiting to get in. she laid out a pair of black jeans, and a red button down shirt

When Melissa came out of the bedroom dressed like chuck he laughed. "What?" She asked taking a seat next to him.

"Nothing," Chuck said smirking. That is until he grabbed the back of his neck in pain. "Oh, sleeping in the download chair was not a good idea." Chuck said.

"Well that's what happens to you when you laugh at me." She said rubbing his neck. "How much sleep did you get last night? She asked.

"Not much. Lets take a nape before we go talk to Roark." Chuck said falling asleep as he talked.

Two hours later Chuck woke up with Melissa laying on top of him on the couch. He looked at the clock and was tempted to go back to sleep but Melissa looked down at him and smiled. "Time to play the bad guy. Come on, it'll be fun." She said hopping up and pulling Chuck off the couch.

"Okay fine, but after we do this I want to go back to sleep. I'm beat." He said stretching.

Jordan opened the door when Chuck and Melissa knocked. "Hey you two, have fun last night?" She asked.

"We always have fun Jordan you should know that." Chuck said greeting Ted with a hand shake. "Hey Jordan, do you have a lap top around here?" Chuck asked taking a seat on the couch next to Ted's chair.

"Sure, will my work laptop do?" She asked handing it over.

"It should." Chuck said booting it up. "Alright Ted, what you see here is a little program I knocked up over the past two days, I call it the Speed demon. Basically it's a Intersect download of Spanish that starts out slow and keeps jumping in speed until you stop it. There are ten levels of speed ranging from just fast enough for the information to stick, all the way up to fry your brain fast. Do you know Spanish Ted?" Chuck asked.

"I know just enough to order a taco platter." Ted said laughing.

"Well if you will just look at this screen and put your finger on the space bar please?" Chuck said turning the laptop to him. "All right, now hit the space bar when you're ready and hit it again when you start to feel pain behind your eyes." Chuck said.

"Have you tested this yet Chuck?" Ted asked.

"On myself only. Would you like someone else to go first?" Chuck asked in a voice that implied Ted was a little bitch.

"No, I can handle it." Ted said sitting up taller.

"Remember to hit the space bar as soon as you feel pain. If you try to act tough you could hurt yourself." Chuck said waving him on. Ted took a deep breath and hit the space bar the screen started flashing, and it kept getting faster as time went on five minutes into it Ted hit the space bar and the screen kept flashing at the same pace for the next ten minutes. When the screen went black Ted shook his head and blinked a few time. "How are you doing Ted?" Chuck asked in Spanish.

"I'm doing fine." Ted responded in perfect Spanish. 

"And that's how the speed demon works." Chuck said smirking. "If you pull up this list you can see you're the second person to test it out and you can see your score. You scored a 7 out of 10. Not bad. I myself scored a 10, but I'm used to the Intersect. Jordan do you want to have a go?" Chuck asked turning the lap top to her and resting the program. When she had it going he turned back to Ted. "Once we have every Fulcrum agent run that program we can gather a large group with the same score in the auditorium at RI and upload them all at once." Chuck said smirking.

Jordan gowned and hit the space bar. A few minutes later she was done and shook her head. She asked what her score was in Spanish. And Chuck pulled it up. "You scored an 8." Chuck said which made Ted look angry, "Hey Ted it's not her fault. The more time I spend researching this the more I realized everyone is different and it has nothing to do with anything. Everyone's speed is different and I see no correlation between speed and any other factor. I'm talking about IQ points, level of education, age, gender. It's all different. I think it's the next thing I'm going to tackle once I've got the everyone's number. I'm going to try to see if there are any correlations at all." Chuck said starting Melissa next.

"That is very strange Chuck, you would think there would be some kind of correlation." Ted said deep into the work. It was sad how easy Chuck could steer his conversations with Roark.

"None. Not a one, but we only have four sets of data. After next week I hope to have more. Until then it's a mystery. But it dose show you what I was talking about when I told you why you were deep frying agents left and right. If you could put this on a shared server and have every agent run the test I can have a list of good candidates ready for you as soon as all of them complete it. Hopefully by Friday of next week. Until then I'm going to barrow Sam and Kate for a bit. I need them to download a few memory banks full of information. If we are going to do a mass upload I want the information to be top notch, and up to date. The memory banks I want them to hit are very light on security and should be easy to access. I have a whole list of them and I want them to keep sending me data right up till the upload." Chuck said.

"That's great thinking Chuck. If this all goes to plan we will be unstoppable in two weeks." Ted said with a very psychotic look on his face.

Chuck checked the data for Melissa and shook his head. "See Ted, no correlation at all, she scored a 9 for God sakes and she's dumber then a box of rocks." Chuck said pointing at Melissa.

"Hey, I am not!" She said looking ready to cry as she ran out of the room.

"Shit! I shouldn't have said that. I'll see you around the office Ted." Chuck said pulling the flash drive out and running after Melissa. He found her in the apartment laughing. "You are getting way too good at that. You had me worried for a second there." Chuck said sitting next to her on the couch.

"You really did hurt my feeling Chuck. Is that how you see me?" She asked looking sad.

"Of course not, but it is the image you have cultivated with him so I had to say it. Plus I didn't want him to take it out on Jordan. Especially since the numbers are a lie." Chuck said holding her.

"What do you mean the numbers are a lie?" She asked looking confused.

"Oh the program works, and it does do what I said it does but the numbers I just showed him are the fakes that the program generates based on threat level. Anyone I think is an absolute shit head scores a 7. That way we can get them all in the same room in two weeks. Everyone else scores something different depending on their level of threat. People in your situation, and Kate's score a 9. People that are being forced to work for Fulcrum, score an 8. Computer geeks that do logistic score a 6. A score 5 means you're a high value target and we want to take them alive for questioning. 1-4 don't exist unless someone really scores that low. Your real numbers get sent to a different list. Do you want to see our real numbers?" Chuck asked smirking.

"Yes I do you evil genius you." She said with pride shining through.

"This is the real list." Chuck said opening his laptop and showing her a list of names. Chuck scored a 10, next on the list was Roark with a 9. Melissa and Jordan both scored an 8. "And what I told him is true, I found nothing that links download speed with anything. As you can see you and Jordan both scored an 8 even though the only two things you have in common is that you're both women and you both are NSA. Besides that I see nothing else." Chuck said.

"Well we both find you attractive, does that count?" She asked smirking.

"I don't think so but if Casey and Morgan both score an 8 then we defiantly have a problem." Chuck said laughing.

On Monday Chuck spent most of the day working on an individual download for each member of the team. For Melissa, Morgan and Kate this list was very long, but for other people like his wife, Casey, and Sam the list consisted of target information, the hand to hand fighting, and a few skills they lacked. He sent the hard drives and a list of skills with Melissa that night to Castle with orders not to touch the two chairs until Chuck was there to supervise.

He got his chance the next day when he took Melissa Sam and Kate out to dinner. The group made it to Castle at around six and everyone was there. "Good you're all here, even Morgan! Hey Buddy, are you joining the team?" Chuck asked.

"I am, but Sarah said my mission was dealing with a nuclear bomb and I was hoping to change it." Morgan said looking sad.

"Sure you can Morgan. Why the long face?" Chuck asked coming around the table.

"I let you down Chuck and I'm not even on the team yet." He said shaking his head.

"Hey, you could never let me down Little Buddy. It's your first mission and you don't want to disarm a nuke. I get it. None of us here are going to pass judgment on you for that. In fact we respect you more for it. You know what you're comfortable doing and you told us before you got on a plane to Mexico." Chuck said patting him on the back.

"He's right you know. I'm proud of you Morgan." Melissa said hugging him.

"We'll just change you out for Vicky here. She's a bit of an expert on Tomahawk missiles anyway, right?" Chuck said.

"I smuggled a pair of them out of a base in Lisbon." She said smirking.

"See. Instead you're going to be working with Anastasia over there. You'll be staying right here in L.A., how's that sound?" Chuck asked smirking.

"Perfect. What are we doing?" Morgan asked excitedly.

Chuck shared a smile with Sarah and Casey. "Anna will fill you in after the briefing." Chuck said shaking Morgan's shoulder.

"Okay everyone. What you have here is a program that will teach you Spanish in fifteen minutes. For those of you that know the langue too bad, you'll learn it again because that's not important. What is important is this will tell me how fast we can crank the intersect download up when we download you." Chuck said waving around a blue flash drive. "Did everyone get their list for the download?" Chuck asked. "Good. Does anyone object to the list? Besides Sarah and Casey." Chuck amended when he looked at the two of them. "None of you? Really? I was sure a few of you would. For the record this will not change you in any way. Nor will it effect your skills as they stand. All this will do is give you a second option." Chuck said. "Now lets begin the testing!" Chuck said plugging the flash drive into one of the stations in the next room. "Aright, who's going first?" Chuck asked and Morgan was the first one out of his seat. "My Little Buddy. Alright." Chuck said. By the end of the night Chuck ran them all through the Speed Demon. And plugged the numbers into the two download chairs. There were two stand outs in the group, Morgan and Alex both scored 10 out of 10.

The next day Morgan and Alex were going to sit in the chairs for their download. Once they were done Casey and Sarah were going next, both of them scoring a 9. This would keep going until they all had some time in the chair. Once they did the team members with the most to learn would spend some time with a more experienced agent working out the kinks of the training with Chuck's help when he could sneak away.

On Wednesday Ted sent Sam and Kate to Chuck's office with instructions to follow his orders and report for the missions. Chuck had new CIA agents pass their GPS tagged Blackberry's all over the country. The whole time Sarah would send him hard drive dumps of old CIA case files and NSA mission records. Roark thought they were getting information gold. Really they were getting the equivalent of junk mail, and Shuck was shredding it through a program at the end of the day just to be sure it was all gone. By Friday things were going great. Chuck got off the elevator at noon and walked up to Jordan's desk with a file in his hands. "Is the boss in?" He asked smirking.

"He is, and he's not doing a damned thing. You want me to announce you, or do you want to surprise him?" She asked looking up from her computer screen.

"No I'll go in myself. Thank you." Chuck said winking at her asked passed by her desk. "Hey Ted!" Chuck said waving the file. "The numbers are in and I've got some really good news." He said dropping down on the couch across for Roark. "I have a list of two hundred names that are perfect matches for the big download." He said tossing him the file.

"You have got to be kidding me? Two Hundred! That crazy! This is going to be great!" Ted said thumbing through the file.

"I know right. And I have the whole Intersect program up and running. It's going to take a few days to compile all the data and then I have to run a few tests again to make sure it's still working. Basically I have the weekend off, I think I'm going to take Melissa on a little vacation. I'm beat Ted. I don't think I've worked this hard on computer programming in a long time." Chuck said making a show out of stretching and looking tired.

"No take all the time you need. You've more then earned it." Ted said still excited about the prospect of get Intersect agents.

"Thanks Ted that means a lot to me that you value my work." Chuck said looking grateful.

"Value. I do a lot more then Value it, if I could I'd name a building after you Kid. If I had a few more programmers like you I could fire half the staff working in this place." Ted said.

"While I'm not going to be programming forever you know, I want to go on real missions now and then. I've got to keep my skills sharp." Chuck said standing up.

"Where do you think you'll take a trip to?" Ted asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Like I said the system has to run a bunch of tests on it's self. Figure Four days just to be safe. Oh! I almost forgot. Don't go in my office while it's running. It will be flashing randomly to test out the new files and to run the test fast I have the flash speed way up. It could kill someone if they saw it. I'm going to lock the door when I leave today and I'm going to hang a big sign on the door letting people know it's dangerous to go in. If you could let everyone know not to go in that would save us a lot of clean up on Tuesday." Chuck said smirking.

"I can do that Chuck. In the mean time I'm going to start calling all these agents in." Ted said waving the file.

"You have fun with that." Chuck said laughing.

Two hours later Chuck handed his car off to a NSA guy along with his phone and Melissa's. When they got to Castle they found the place to be in a state of chaos. Chuck saw Alex and pulled her aside. "What's going on?"

"This place is a mad house. We've got people making calls out to contacts in the cities we are going to do the missions in, we've got training going on down the hall. We've got people looking over blueprints for best entry points. And worst of all, Sarah still has the yips and we desperately need her to get over them so she can do her job next week. Aside from that everything is going really smooth." She said smirking.

"Right. We'll just circulate and see if we can't help out a bit." Chuck said headed to the training rooms with Melissa right behind him. Chuck found Sarah, Casey and Morgan in the shooting range yelling at each other. "What's going on in here?" Chuck asked.

"Walker can't get her shot back." Casey said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chuck asked looking at the target half way down range. There were ten holes in it none of them in the center, and two of them were barely on the paper.

"She got the yips kid. She can't do anything right." Casey said looking like he was at the end of his rope.

"Have you tired a different gun, or shooting off handed?" Chuck asked.

"I Have and it did nothing." She growled out in frustration.

"Show me?" Chuck asked.

Sarah picked up her gun off the counter, slammed a new mag in, and let off ten shots, none of then hit the target. Chuck looked between the target and his wife who was close to tears. "Right, um… that's not supposed to happen." Chuck said looking shocked.

"No shit. It's been happening all week. She needs an assignment, but I'm almost afraid to let her go on a mission." Casey said.

"So lets take a few missions as a team. I've got a few days off from Fulcrum, lets ask the General for a few missions. We can use the rest of the team as back up." Chuck said excitedly.

"Are you sure?" Casey asked looking mildly uncomfortable.

"Sure why not? Let's take something easy and work our way up. There's got to be some bad guy that needs killing." Chuck said.

As it turned out there were two missions available for them to take off the General's hands. Chuck took them both, and called a team meeting. When they were all seated around the conference table Chuck stood up. "Agent Walker is having a bit of a problem finding her grove. I have volunteered us for two missions over the next few days. Both of them are around the west coast. Nether of them are Fulcrum related, and Both of them are going to be planed by Agent Walker." Chuck said taking a seat.

Sarah stood up looking over a big stack of files. "Okay. The first mission is time sensitive. The CIA thinks this man, Richard Benedict is selling the designs for a guidance chip for the new AMRAAM missile. We think he's selling to the North Koreans. This deal is going down at a warehouse down by the docks at six P.M. tonight. That's a little under three hours from now. This is an over head view of the area. This blue building is the target building. I want us the get eyes on the building. Rick and Vicky, that's your job, take the surveillance truck and set up in this back lot. I want snipers on these three roof tops. Casey, Alex, and Jenifer. You guys can pick who goes where. I want Melissa, Kate, and Morgan in the transport van parked on this street over here. You guy will swoop in and handle any prisoner clean up. That leaves Me, Chuck, Carina, Sam, and Anna on the ground handling the assault." She said pointing out the places on the map.

"One question?" Casey asked raising his hand.

"Yes?" She asked smiling.

"I can understand your choices for who goes where, and I agree with all of your choices except one. Why are you taking Chuck with you on the ground assault team?" Casey asked.

"Because, he, like the rest of them are the best shots with Sub-machine guns, and they can mix it up if it gets physical." Sarah said.

"Right, but Chuck still hasn't killed anyone. How do we know he wont freeze up after the first shot?" Casey asked.

"He makes a valid point fearless leader. Chuck still has to pass his Red Test." Carina said.

"I might be able to help with that." Anna said. "I have Sidorov in holding cell two. Why don't we have Chuck go in, and shoot him?" She asked.

Everyone sat around looking uncomfortable. Until Chuck shrugged his shoulder. "You're right. I need to know I wont freeze up." He said standing up and walking out of the room. Everyone watched him go before they all sprang from their chairs and tried to go after him, but Sarah stopped them at the hall.

"No, it's not right for all of you to witnesses this. Did you have a group around you when you took your Red Test? No. Now go, sit down." She said before walking down the hall. She hid around the corner as she watched Chuck stand outside of the holding cell. He had his head down, and it looked like he was saying something to himself. He then rolled his shoulders back, stood tall, and his face went blank. He was Carmichael. He pulled his gun from behind his back, and a silencer form an inside pocket in his suit jacket. He slowly screwed it on to the end of his gun and chambered a round.

"You can watch if you want, but I would like you not to." Chuck said without looking at her.

"I won't if you don't want me to." She said, her voice almost cracking.

"I Don't want you to." Chuck said. He took a deep breath, hit the button on the panel, and when the doors opened he brought his gun up and shot three times. He put the safety back on, tucked the gun in his pants, and picked up the three shell casings. He made it all the way down the hall before showing any signs of the first kill. By the time he rounded the corner by her he all but collapsed in on himself. He was shaking. He was clammy, and he looked like he was in shock. When he made eye contact with her he saw the look of understanding in her eyes and that's when he fell to his knees and lost his lunch. Sarah picked him up and moved him to holding cell three. She stripped him of all of his clothes, piling them on the chair. She placed his gun on top of the pile. She then laid him on the bed. She got out of her clothes as fast as she could and slid into bed with him.

"Talk to me Chuck, what are you feeling right now?" She asked softly.

"I don't know? I Can't feel anything right now. I just feel cold." He said shivering.

Sarah wrapped her body around his as best as she could. Holding his head to her chest. "Do you need anything? Do you want me to say anything?" She asked, not knowing what to do in this situation. Normally she was the one getting comfort from him, not the other way around. This was all new to her.

"I Don't know. I feel… nothing. I feel fear. I'm afraid that I don't feel as bad as I should and it's making me feel worse." Chuck said deep in thought.

"What do you mean you don't feel bad?" She asked.

"I feel justified. I feel vengeance. I feel satisfaction. I thought about all the horrible things he did to Anna and I felt riotous as I pulled the trigger. Like I was righting a wrong in the universe. I felt good." Chuck said shaking as a tear slid down his face. "Dose this mean I'm turning into a monster?" Chuck asked.

"No, it means you killed a really bad guy. That's what we do Chuck. Every person we are sent to kill has done something to earn our visit. If we are sent after them it means they deserve it. I told you before Chuck. If you have a fear of becoming a monster then you're not becoming a monster. It's only when you don't have that fear anymore that you've lost the goodness inside of you." She said softly.

"Sarah, Please love me." He asked softly.

And she did. It was slow and soft, and full of love. It was more then sex, it was a rebirth. In her arms he was reborn as a killer. Afterwards they laid in each other embrace and soaked up the feel of this new level of closeness. This calm was broken by Anna standing at the door. "It is done?" She asked softly.

"Yes. It's done." Chuck said.

"Thank you. I've been trying to get up the nerve to do it for days now. Every time I tried to do it the fear of my childhood would came back up to the surface. Half the team has left, they will be waiting for us by the warehouse." She said leaving them alone again.

Chuck sat up and wiped his face. He slipped out of bed and put his boxers and pants back on. He took his gun and tucked it into his back and looked down at Sarah. "Thank you for being here. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here." Chuck said.

Sarah sat up in bad. "I'm glad I was here to help you through it." She said taking his hand. "Are you up for the mission Chuck? If your not you can stay here." She said.

"No, I'm good. I've made my peace with it and now it's time to move on. I need to change into mission blacks, and pull my gear for the mission." Chuck said intertwining his fingers with hers. "And so do you, team leader." Chuck said pulling her up out of bed. He wrapped his white shirt around her and lead her down the hall. Outside of holding cell three they saw someone had cleaned up the sick, and passing by holding cell two they saw someone moved Victor's body. Chuck didn't know who did it but he was eternally grateful to them. Chuck saw Morgan and Melissa in the shooting range packing up equipment. When Chuck saw them he smiled. Like him they were both decked out in mission black cargo pants, long sleeve shirts, boots, and tactical vests. Chuck walked up to Morgan and pulled the Sig229 off his hip. "You went with the 229 I see?" Chuck said looking at the full nickel plated slide and frame.

"Yeah, I wanted to have the same gun as you." Morgan said turning red.

"I am really honored Little Buddy." Chuck said handing it back to him. "Who showed you how to use it?" Chuck asked.

"Sarah, and Carina. They handled all of my training. Kate's too." Morgan said.

"I want you guys to stick together. Hang back, and watch the action tonight and we'll give you more to do next time. Tonight is all about seeing how fast things go down." Chuck said adding a few mags to Morgan's vest.

"I will Chuck, you can count on me." Morgan said smiling.

Sarah came in and walked over to Morgan. "You all set?" She asked smiling a proud smile.

"As ready as I can be." He said standing tall.

"Good, Stay in the van and be ready for anything." She said patting him on the back as she sent him out the door. She then turned to Melissa. "How about you?"

"I'm all set Sarah. Sam and Casey showed me everything they could think of." Melissa said nodding.

"Good, get out to the van, and keep an eye on Morgan. This is his first mission." She said.

"Don't worry, I've got him." She said slinging and MP5k over her shoulder.

Melissa turned to Chuck. She cupped his cheek and smiled a sad little smile. "How is my fearless leader doing?" She asked.

"Okay, I'm okay with it all." Chuck said nodding.

"Good. Stay sharp out there. I love you." She said hugging him before she walked out.

"What are you packing tonight Chuck?" Sarah asked shouldering an M4.

"I think I'll go with my old stand by. The MP5-SD6." Chuck said pulling one down off the rack and extending the stock to fit his shoulder better.

Anna came in decked out in full gear. "What's taking you two so long? Yet again we are the last ones to leave." She said holding up a set of keys.

When they came outside the only car left in the lot in front of Castle was the black Dodge Charger. Anna tossed Chuck the keys, but he turned around and tossed them to Sarah. "Your mission, you drive." Chuck said sliding into the passenger seat.

The rest of the team sat around the surveillance van waiting for the team leader to show up. They didn't have to wait long. The black Charger came flying into the parking lot and screeched to a halt a few feet away from the rest of the team. Sarah got out and was hopping around on the balls of her feet. Chuck and Anna however didn't look so excited. "What are we looking at Major Casey?" She asked walking over to the group.

"Well we're defiantly in the right place. There's about a half dozen North Korean special forces guys walking around the perimeter. We think there's about the same number inside along with a general Kim Park…" Casey said watching Chuck flash.

"Kim Park, head of counter intelligence, and unconventional warfare tactics. He's on eight wanted lists and every watch list." Chuck said.

"We know. Morgan and Melissa are looking at the monitors to see if they flash on anything. They got the full intersect like you." Casey said pointing to the X's he marked on the over head shot of the building. "How do you want to handle this?" He asked Sarah.

Sarah looked unsure for a few seconds before she turned back to Casey. "Well the way I see it we've got a few different options for doing this. We could cut the power, storm in there with night vision and hit then while they're fumbling in the dark. Or the snipers could take out the guards and we could bust in through a few side windows after tossing in flash-bangs. Or we could take one of these trucks in this lot and drive it through the front doors and storm in during the commotion." She said.

"You're in charge. You pick it. You tell us how you want to do this." Chuck said standing next to her.

"I don't know. I've got the yips and I don't want to pick." She said.

"Well you need to. If you don't pick then we'll sit here and let this happen without moving. You need to give out the orders." Chuck said in full agent mode.

"But what if I'm wrong?" She asked.

"Don't Care! Now give out the orders Agent Walker!" Chuck said getting in her face.

"Fine we're going through the front! Now get your shit and lets move people!" She yelled back with a hard look in her eyes. The look she always got when she was in a gun fight. It was the Enforcer, and Chuck was happy to see her. Excited even. Looking in her eyes when they were hard and cold touched a really sexual place in agent Carmichael.

Chuck turned to Casey and smiled a smile that was anything but pleasant. Now that he knew she was going to be okay, and didn't need him to be Chuck, her husband. Then he could be agent Carmichael and get the job done. "You heard the Boss, get your asses in position. Someone go hot wire one of those big ass trucks. Snipers get up on the roof tops, I want everyone locked and loaded in ten." Chuck said.

Casey stayed standing next to him. "You know she just made the wrong choice ring?" He asked looking a little uncomfortable.

"I know that, you know that, and the rest of the team knows that. But we cant let her know that. She needs the win very badly Casey. She needs it more then just to get over what ever this is she's going through. She needs to take the power back from me. She needs to boss me around a bit. She needs me to hide behind her and act like Chuck. I can't do that tonight. I need to get the team out of this alive tonight, but the next mission is like the ones we used to do all the time. On that mission I wont help unless I think the team is in danger." Chuck said pulling the charging handle on the side of his gun and loading a round into the pipe.

"I Hope you know what you're doing out there Chuck." Case said.

"So do I. And thank for moving the body for me." Chuck said turning away from him and walking away.

"We're a team Kid. We look after each other." Casey said.

Once everyone was in place it was a game of waiting for Richard Benedict to show up. Too long a wait in Chuck's opinion. The longer it took to get going the more time Sarah had to second guess her orders. Chuck had spent the last fifteen minutes watching his wife's face. So far The Enforcer was still in charge, but every time she looked back to Chuck he could see the mask slipping just a little. When Casey called out Benedict's car approaching Chuck felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"Good lets get this show on the road! Casey, when you here us approaching the target, start taking out the guards stationed outside of the building. Sam Let's Ride!" Sarah said. Sam dropped the big moving truck into gear and stomped down on the gas jerking the big truck into motion. In the back of the truck Chuck, Sarah, Carina, and Anna held on tight and made sure they were ready. Chuck heard Sam run through the gears very fast and soon the truck was really moving.

"Here WE GO!" Sam yelled over the coms and Chuck felt the impact of the truck smashing through the warehouse doors.

When the truck skidded to a halt Chuck and Sarah threw the door up and jumped out of the back of the truck. He turned left and brought his MP5 up. He saw a guard with an AK47. He squeezed off three shots dropping the guy he came around the truck and saw another guard running at him with a gun in his hand. Chuck brought his gun up and three shots later he was down. As Chuck rounded the truck and moved across the warehouse to a stack of crates. As he slid in to cover someone shot the creates. Chuck drop to the floor and peaked around the creates and saw another guard with an AK47. Chuck was about to take him down when he saw the guy track a different target. Chuck followed his eyes and saw Sarah run for cover. Chuck ran over to Sarah and tossed her into cover. As the guy brought his gun up Chuck let off three shots and dropped him. He then dropped down next to her. "Check your field of fire for threats, then pop out of cover and move to the next cover." Chuck said winking, and smirking. He then looked over the creates, let off a short burst off full auto fire before popping up and running to an over turned table. He popped up again and took out a guy coming out of the office door at the back of the warehouse. "I'm at the door to the office! Four tangos down! I'm waiting for team leader to take point!" Chuck said dropping his mag and slamming home a fresh one.

"Right behind you! Everyone stack up on me!" Sarah said taking up position Sam, and Anna took up positions behind Sarah.

"I would but I took a shot to the vest and I think I'll just lay here for a bit." Carina said coughing.

"You okay Sister?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah. It didn't go through but my right tit is going to be sore for a very long time." Carina said pulling her tactical vest off.

"Okay you can sit this one out. Chuck, Can you see inside the office?" Sarah asked.

"Hold one." Chuck said as he ghosted over to one of the shot out windows and took a look inside. He pulled his head down just in time to avoid the gun shots. He ran back to the group. "Park has two guards with him, and he's holding Benedict in front of him as a human shield. How do you want to do this?" Chuck asked.

"When I say go, Anna toss this flash-bang into the open window." Sarah said tossing the small Russian girl the grenade, and watching her run over to the window Chuck just looked into. "Chuck I want you to kick in the door and shoot Park in the shoulder. Make sure he stays alive. Sam I want you to take the guard on the left, I will take the guy on the right." Sarah said. "Ready?" She asked looking everyone in the eye. "GO!"

Anna pulled the pin and tossed the grenade. Chuck kicked in the door. Sam went in first and shot the guy on the left with her MP5. Chuck went in next. He brought his gun up and shot once. The bullet hit Park's exposed shoulder smashing the collar bone, and sending him to the ground. As he pivoted to the right to shoot the last guard Sarah came through the door and put three shots in him. Chuck let his gun drop to his side and cuffed Park with zip ties. He then took Benedicts arms and slammed him to the floor so Sam could zip tie him.

Sarah tapped Sam on the shoulder. "Stay here and watch them." She said pointing to the two prisoners. "You three come with me. I want this place tossed. I want every inch looked over for valuable intel! Casey, I want you guys to stay on as over watch, and call in the NSA clean up crew! Melissa, bring the van we've got two for pick up. We also need you the flash on anything we might find. I want to be out of here in fifteen. Lets move people." She said.

Twenty minutes later Chuck was deep in thought sitting in the passenger seat of the Charger as Sarah drove back to Castle. Melissa, who was sitting in the back seat made it a whole ten blocks before the silence in the car got to her. "Why the long faces? We did good tonight! Well I didn't but you two did!" She said with her perky smile turned way up.

"I killed five men tonight." Chuck said just above a whisper, but it carried through the silence of the car.

"My rash decisions got Carina shot." Sarah said, her eyes on the road, and not looking at anyone else.

"Come on! You guys took down an internationally wanted operative and a guy selling state secrets! You guys are heroes!" Melissa said.

"Melissa, you need to stop talking right now. I'm asking you nicely, please just leave it alone." Chuck said.

"I don't get it. We should be celebrating." Melissa said folding her arms and sitting back in her seat.

"If you think cowboy tactics and getting a team member shot is grounds for celebration then you're not ready for field work." Sarah said.

"No but saving the world is something to be excited about right?" Melissa asked.

"Saving the world is our job. What we did tonight was rash and dangerous. I can't believe we made it out of there alive." Sarah said looking sideways at Chuck. She knew it wasn't his fault, she was in charge, it was her choice. But he pushed her. He forced her to be the Enforcer and the Enforcer made rash choices. She knew she needed to do something to get back in the game, but the cowboy, rush in attitude was going to get people killed. She needed to be Agent Walker. Tonight, she failed. And she blamed Chuck for it.

Chuck saw the look and knew she blamed him for the way things went tonight. The thing she didn't know was he didn't care. She needed to get over her little mental problems and if being pissed at him was what it took then that was fine by him. Sunday they had a very dangerous job to pull off. All that mattered this week was being ready for it so she could come back in one piece. He would gladly take a week of her sideways looks if it meant they were alive to make up next week. "What?" Chuck asked looking at her.

"Nothing." She said looking at the road ahead.

"No go ahead and say what's on your mind. Let it out Walker." Chuck said turning to look at her.

"Fine. Tonight we almost failed because you pushed me to make a bad choice." She said looking mad.

"Really? It's my fault that we went in guns blazing?" Chuck asked.

"Yes. It was stupid and rash and we could have all been killed." Sarah said.

"Well why did you pick it then. I'm not controlling you. You're not a puppet. You're a grown ass woman, and a CIA veteran. Start acting like it Agent Walker." Chuck said giving her the same look she was giving him.

"You don't think I can?" She asked, her voice dropping into that cold Enforcer tone.

"Not right now I don't." Chuck said shocking both Sarah and Melissa in the back seat.

"What!?" She asked.

"That's right, I have half a mind to bench you until you start acting like an Agent." Chuck said, but the whole time he was praying this would work in his head.

"How Dare you! You can't bench me! I run you. You don't run shit!" She shouted back.

Chuck caught Melissa's eye in the mirror and winked. "Really? Because the only thing you did tonight was get your team in hot water and almost get shot. I saved your ass tonight. You were good for shit out there Walker." Chuck said with his Carmichael confidence.

Sarah pulled into the lot. "Get out." She said coldly.

"Are you coming in or are you going to sit out here and Salk about the loss of your talent?" Chuck asked cringing on the inside. He needed her too much to let her slip away. He needed agent Walker and if he was in for a penny he might as well go in for a pound.

"Go to hell." She said in a deadly voice.

"Right." Chuck said getting out. As soon as he shut the door she pealed out and shot out of the lot.

"I hope you know what you're doing Chuck." Melissa said looking sick.

"So do I." Chuck said.


	24. Chapter 24

Sarah stormed into Castle and passed Casey and Alex dealing with the two prisoners. Alex was confused by the look of rage in her eyes but Casey just waved her off and went back to doing what he was doing. She walked right passed Sam helping Carina out of her shirt. They both shared a look when they saw her. Morgan and Anna were in the hall outside of the range when she turned the corner. Anna took one look at Sarah and ducked into the kitchen leaving Morgan in the hall. "Hey Sarah. Good job out there right?" He asked. She just pushed him out of the way as she walked into the range. Morgan bounced off the hallway wall and almost lost his footing but Anna shot out of the kitchen and grabbed him. "What gives?" He asked rubbing his shoulder.

"She's lost to the rage. Give her time and she will get over it. Until then lets go see what the rest of the group has for us to do." She said taking his arm in hers as she walked him down the hall.

Sarah Walked over to the firing lane and drew her gun. She took a deep breath and aimed at the fresh ten inch target hanging up at about fifty foot down range. It was an easy shot to make, one she would have made without trying last week. She shot once. She missed. Setting her gun on the bench she rolled her shoulders and walked around the room for a few minutes deep in thought. When she thought she was ready she tried again. She missed. She sat in a chair and tried to calm her breathing down but the events of the last few days were catching up to her. She lost her agent skills. She lost her leadership confidence. Now she was sure she lost Chuck. She approach the lane again and tried to push all of her thoughts out of her head. She took aim and shot again. She missed. Gritting her teeth and glaring at the target down range she shot again. She missed. Enraged by the pristine white target she let out a primal yell and emptied the rest of her mag. She hit the target but none of it hit the center. She yelled out a long stream of obscenities and flung her empty gun at the target.

"Sarah, are you okay?" Asked a male voice devoid of confidence or motive. It was a voice she hadn't heard in a long while. In fact it had been so long she almost cried when she heard it. When she turned around she did start to cry. There standing by the door to the range was Chuck. He was dressed in his full Nerd Herder outfit, even down to his pocket protector and his Chuck Taylor's. His hair was messy and sticking up and his beard was gone. His confident stance went with the rest of his outfit. He was leaning on the wall with his shoulders slumped and a shy smile on his face. "Sarah, are you okay?" He asked with concern as he walked up to her and pulled her into a soft hug.

Sarah fell into his arms and basked in his presences. He was soft and warm and he always knew how to talk to her. She was the center of his world and her safety was his top concern. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. Resting her head on his chest she breathed in his clean soap and water smell and let her tears fall. "No Chuck, I'm not alright. I'm failing as an agent, I can't do anything right, and to top it all off this new guy, Carmichael, is up my ass trying to get me to do my job." She said softly.

"That's terrible Sarah! It's worse then when they first hired Emit, and he was always trying to get me fired." Chuck said rubbing her back awkwardly.

"What am I going to do Chuck? If I'm not good enough to be on the team they're going to kick me out of the CIA. Then who's going to look after you?" She said in a panic.

"They can't fire you! You're Sarah Walker! You're the best agent in the world. You're like James Bond! You've got super secret spy moves and you can kill a man a hundred different ways. You make the very worst bad guys in the world tell you everything they know with a wink and a smile. They can't do anything to you Sarah because no one in the world can replace you!" Chuck said with pure honesty, and an open heart. She knew he meant every work he was saying.

"Carmichael could replace me you know." She said sadly.

"No he can't! How can he replace you? Can he asses the situation like you can? Can he blend into the background and watch to room for subtle clues on how to play the situation? Can he own the room like you? Walk right up to a bad guy and flirt with him until he spills all of his dirty little secrets?" Chuck asked pulling away from her to look her in the eye as he spoke his words of truth. "Can he kick ass like you?" He added with a cute smirk.

Sarah smiled. "No I don't think he can do all of that Chuck, but right now, neither can I. I'm useless Chuck." She said sadly.

"You are far from useless! All we have to do is figure out what's bothering you and fix it. Then you can go back to being the best spy in the world." Chuck said excitedly.

"But I'm having so many problems Chuck. How are we going to fix them?" She asked with hope in her voice for the first time that night.

"Well, what's wrong with you? Lets make a list." Chuck said taking out a small notebook and a pen. "What are you having trouble with?" Chuck asked.

Sarah smiled at Chuck's simple way of fixing things. "For starters I can't hit a damned thing!" She said pointing at the target.

"Can't shoot straight." Chuck mumbled as he wrote in his notebook. "Anything else?" He asked looking up at her.

"I can't throw a knife, or shot an assault weapon, and I almost crashed my car a few times." She said thinking about the last four days she was having.

"Wow that is a lot. You know what you need? Some time away form it all. That's what helps me get over something that's bothering me. Why don't you take a nice hot shower and get change into some normal clothes and meet me out front when your ready. Take your time and relax, I'll take care of the rest." Chuck said smiling his soft half smile.

Sarah smiled back and hugged him. "That's a great idea Chuck." She said basking in his inner calm, and love.

"I'm happy you agreed to go. Now go get changed. Take your time, we are in no rush. It's only nine, the place I'm taking you doesn't close until midnight." Chuck said as he walked out the door. When he came into the conference room the rest of the team was waiting. Chuck's smile faded and he stood taller. "Okay I think I have an idea for getting her back to normal." Chuck said coming to stand by the front of the table. "First of all Sam, Kate, Rick, Jenifer, I want you guys to pack it in for the night and start prepping for you missions starting tomorrow. Anna, you get some sleep too. You have class tomorrow." Chuck said to much laughter from the people around the room and a death glare from Anna. "Be as mad as you want, but you better be in class tomorrow young lady." Chuck said smiling.

"I hate you, you do know that right?" She said coldly.

"You don't hate me. You know you love me. This is going to be good for you Anna. This is a chance to live like a normal girl for a week." Chuck said coming around to her and touching her shoulder.

"Fine, but I'm not going to like it, and this Scott better be nice to me or I'll kill him myself." She said slumping in her chair.

"I'm sure he will be the perfect gentleman. He's a computer nerd, sit next to him, flirt with him, and he'll be putty in your hands." Chuck said smiling.

"Yes, because it worked so well for Walker. We'll be attending another wedding in two years." Casey said smirking.

"I will follow orders Chuck. You can count on me." She said softly. "You on the other hand, if you don't shut up then I'll break your nose again." She said staring daggers at Casey.

"Morgan, I want you to hang out with Alex this week." Chuck said.

"Can do boss!" Morgan said saluting him.

"Alex, I need you to help him scout out his two targets for Anna while she's in school. Can you do that?" Chuck said.

"I can do that." She said smiling. She loved working with the team.

"Are you sure? Remember you have your own missions to prep for." Chuck said.

"I Have all of next week to work on that. My flight to Philly is on Thursday." She said.

"Good. I knew I could count on Casey's apprentice." Chuck said patting her on the back as he came around the table. "That leaves us with Carina, Melissa, Jenifer, and Casey. When are you guys leaving for your missions?" Chuck asked.

"I've been talking to a friend in the DEA field office in Austen and he has two teams of agents doing all most all of my work for me. I'm not leaving till Thursday as well." Carina said.

"Well then I want you to take a few days off and heal. You got shot today." Chuck said.

"I don't need time off. This is not the first time I've been shot you know?" she said rolling her eyes. "Besides it didn't even go through." She said.

"I don't care. New rule from now on! If you get shot you get time off to heal. We have more then enough people on this team to give us all time off if we need it. I don't want to see you back at the office. Go to the beach. Go out clubbing. Go find some very luck guy and have your way with him. Just don't do any work for the next few days." Chuck said smiling as he patted her on the shoulder. He bent down. "You're a part of a team now Kitty Cat. You don't need to do it all any more, you can have fun. But you will be in trouble if we have to bail you out of jail." Chuck said hugging her around the shoulders. "Any one else?" he asked standing up.

"I would like to head out tomorrow if you don't need me for anything Important. That way a can do all of the mission prep and Melissa can stay here to maintain her cover till the weekend." Jenifer said.

"That sounds good to me. Good thinking." Chuck said nodding.

"I can't do a damned thing until Walker gets her head out of her ass so I'm grounded until she's ready. The good news is I've talked to the General and she has a team of vetted agents doing the leg work for us. We just have to do the actual mission prep." Casey said.

"Good. This can work. Okay, everyone but Casey and Melissa are done for the night. For those of you heading out tomorrow I'll see you in a week. For the rest of you I'll see you around the office." Chuck said as they cleared out. When only Melissa and Casey were left Chuck dropped the agent persona. This got two very different responses from the two. Casey glared at him, and Melissa looked sad to see Carmichael go.

"Why are you dressed like that for, and what's with the wimpy attitude?" Casey asked gruffly.

"I have to go back to being Chuck big guy. Sarah needs me right now and Carmichael will only make things worse. She needs us to reset the clock back to before the hostage situation at the Buy More. Tonight I need you two to do me a big favor. I need you to scout out the Mexican restaurant we had our first date in and I need you two to make sure no one is watching us tonight. I can't be on the look out for Fulcrum tonight. I have to be back to my old self again. In fact I'm not even carrying a gun tonight." Chuck said handing his Sig229 to Melissa. "This night has to be about showing her I still need her. I'm going to take a Herder. Drive her the that restaurant, take her walking on the beach, and then we are going back to her hotel room. This is going to be the perfect night for her, and need you two to run over watch for me." Chuck said feeling strange with out his gun in his back.

Melissa nodded and hugged Chuck. "We will watch your back Chuck, nothing is going to happen to you two. We'll make sure your night goes smooth." She said before she pulled Casey out the door. Chuck got the keys to Herder two and pulled the car around to the front of the Orange-orange.

A few minutes later Sarah came out dressed in tight jeans and a blue sweater. She smiled when she saw the Herder. "Are we really taking that?" She asked pointing to the white and red Yarus.

"Yes we are." Chuck said kissing her. "You look really nice. Is that the sweater?" Chuck asked opening her door for her.

"Yes it's your favorite, you always look happy when I wear it." She said smiling softly.

"It's because it matches your eyes and you wore it to a lot of cover dates. We always have a fun time when you ware it." Chuck said pulling out of the lot. When he hit the gas harder to catch up with the traffic nothing happened and the large SUV behind him had to hit the breaks hard not to run into him. "Opps. Sorry!" Chuck called out the window as the guy drove around him flipping them off. "I Forgot how slow these things are." Chuck mumbled. This set Sarah off. "What? "Chuck asked.

"Nothing." Sarah said as she reigned in the laughter. She slid over and leaned into his side. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"It's a surprise." Chuck said turning left.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes really. I hope your hungry though." Chuck said slinging his arm around her.

"When I came out I was expecting to see everyone, but the place was empty. What happened to them?" She asked.

"I sent them all home. They need a break, we all do. Melissa, Sam, Carina and Anna are all staying at my place. The rest are off getting ready for their missions. Alex is hanging out with Morgan. That's a pairing I was not expecting but the guy is smitten and I'm not going to interfere with it even though it's totally throwing my plan of getting Morgan and Melissa together. Anna is getting ready for School." Chuck said laughing.

"I think it's funny you're sending a trained killer to school. Even if it's for a week." She said smirking.

"It's not so much the going to school, it's the having to spend time with Scott. I think every one of you agents needs someone to be with. I think it balances you." Chuck said hugging her closer.

"So you've been playing match maker?" She asked with a soft smile.

"Maybe." Chuck said.

"So you put Alex and Morgan together, and Anna and Scott are going to be hanging out for the cover. Rick and Vicky are staying in the same room. Who's next on the list, maybe I can help?" She asked.

"When this is done I think Jordan is going to be spending more time with Casey. I'm going to have a little talk with him. She needs to spend some time with a man who's not going to use her. I think they have a lot in common and as my future head of security Casey is going to be working very close to Jordan as my assistant. She knows the ins and outs of the company. I'm also going to find Carmichael a brother. I'm going to start looking for a candidate soon. I need someone that can handle the load. I can't run Roark Industries and come on missions too. I need someone that is smart as me and as powerful as Carmichael." Chuck said as they pulled into the restaurant parking lot.

"Chuck is this the same place you took me on our first date?" She asked.

"It is. I thought it would be nice for us to kind of relive that night." Chuck said.

"So I'm guessing we're having dinner here, and then a walk fallowed by some dancing at the little club you took me to. Is Casey going to chase us down and shoot at us as well?" She asked as they walked in.

"I hope not. Then again he was a bit, you know Casey-ish before he left. We might end up dodging bullets before the night's over." Chuck said sharing a smile with her over their menus.

After dinner. They drove down the street a few block to the beach and went walking along the shore holding hands. A strong breeze came off the ocean sending shiver down Sarah's back. Chuck pulled her tighter to his side "It's colder then I thought." She said hugging him.

Chuck unzipped his jacket and pulled her inside. "Better?" He asked.

"Much." She said breathing in his aftershave.

"Good. We just have to go a bit further up, then we can turn around and head back to the car." Chuck said leading them up the beach.

"What's up there?" She asked.

"It's a very important spot." Chuck said looking around at their surroundings. He stopped walking and looked around again before nodding. "This is it." Chuck said sitting down and pulling her into his lap.

"What is it?" She asked looking around.

"Think back to that night. We ate. We walked. We danced. We got chased. We disarmed a bomb. Then I freaked out and ran away. I came here. I sat for hours just thinking about my life and how things got turned upside down. You should know you were watching me the whole time. As the sun came up you took a seat behind me. I turned to you. There's no place I can run is there?" Chuck asked.

"Not from us." Sarah said smiling softly.

"My life is never going to be the same is it?" Chuck asked holding her hand and kissing her softly.

"No it wont." Sarah said smirking.

"If that's true then I'm going to need you to do something for me. I need you to trust me Sarah." Chuck said holding out her ring.

"I can do that." She said holding out her hand.

"Were do we go from here?" Chuck asked sliding the ring in place.

"For now, you go back to work, and we'll protect you." She said softly.

"I remember the talk like it was yesterday. I know those are not the words exactly but they're the words that stuck with me the most. I trust you Sarah. More then anyone else in this world of spies I trust you." Chuck said.

"I know. And I love you." She said kissing him. When they broke the kiss a few minutes later Chuck smiled. "That was the first time you said I love you first." Chuck said.

"No it's not. I told you that one time you were giving me a rub down and again over the phone when we were fighting remember?" She said.

"Right, and then we almost got divorced before we got a chance to be together." Chuck said laughing.

"It's not my fault." She said bumping shoulders with him.

"Then who's fault is it?" Chuck asked.

"Your's." She said.

"How is it my fault?" He asked smirking.

"You were acting like an asshole." She said.

"You might be right. Come to think about it." He said nodding.

"Now lets get up off the ground and I'll show you how I wanted that night to end." She said dragging him back towards the car.

"How was it supposed to end?" Chuck asked.

"With mind blowing sex. Now get your ass moving." She said almost dragging him behind her.

That night they made love three times. Each time was different. The first time was frantic and rushed. They barely mad it to the bed with their clothing off before they were franticly going at it. The second time was slower but still wild. It was that third time that made the night special. It was slow and soft and full of love. They kissed the whole time they made love and they ended together in an earth shattering climax that left them both a little emotional. They fell asleep in each others arms and that's the position they were in when the alarm clock on the table across the room started to ring. Chuck's head popped up and looked around. "What is that?" He asked still disoriented and half asleep.

"It's the God Damned alarm clock." Sarah said. She rolled over grabbed the knife out of the side of the bed and threw it into the clock without looking. When the sound died she sighed. "Thank God that's off, lets go back to sleep." She said trying to roll into his side but he wasn't there. "Chuck?" She asked looking up at him as he stood up.

"Sarah did you just see what you did?" He asked looking socked.

"See what? Chuck I'm still tired! I want you back in bed right now it's cold and you were warm." She whined.

"Sarah you just took out your alarm clock with a perfect knife throw without even looking." Chuck said looking stunned.

"What?" She asked in frustration as she sat up to see what he was talking about. That's when she saw the knife sticking out of the clock. "Chuck I just threw a knife." She said stunned.

"I know. I saw you do it." Chuck said still looking at the clock.

"CHUCK I THREW A KNIFE!" She shrieked excitedly as she hopped out of bed.

"I Know!" Chuck said hugging her tight and hopping up and down with her.

"I Did It!" She said excitedly.

"I Love You So Much Right Now!" Chuck said.

"I wonder if the rest of my skills are back?" She asked looking hopeful.

"There's only one way to find out." Chuck said grabbing his clothes. "We need to get back to Castle ASAP." Chuck said pulling on his boxers.

"I can't believe how excited I am right now Chuck." She said pulling her jeans on.

When they got out of the building Chuck tossed her the keys. "You drive. Let's see if you have that back too." Chuck said.

"If you're sure?" She asked looking at the key in her hand.

"Yeah, go for it." Chuck said getting in.

Casey was just getting to Castle when he heard tires screeching and the sound of an engine over revving. He smile and shook his head when he saw Herder number two come flying around the corner and dart into the parking lot. The car did two laps of the empty Buy More lot before flying towards the Orange-orange and skidding to a stop in one of the spaces out front. When Sarah popped out from behind the wheel Casey was shocked. "That was you Walker?" He asked.

"It was. I think I have my skills back. So far knife throwing and driving. I'm about to see if I have the rest. Want to join us?" She asked opening Castle.

"You're damned right I do." Casey said.

Sarah hung a fresh target up and sent it down range. She pulled her gun and fired once. Smirking she called the target back, and took a step back so Chuck and Casey could see it. The X in the ten ring was gone. Chuck picked her up and spun her around in a hug. "I'm so proud of you." He said really happy.

Casey sent the target back out. "Prove it's not a fluke." He said pointing at the target. Chuck set her down and she pulled her gun out and emptied the mag. She hit close to the center or dead center every time. "Good to have you back Agent Walker." Casey said holding out his hand.

"Good to be back." She said shaking his hand.

"Now that you have your shit together what are we doing next?" Casey asked.

"We have a mission tonight, but for now we're free." Chuck said.

"Lets get something to eat. I'm hungry." Sarah said.

"Breakfast it is then. Lets call the rest of the team and see who's around." Chuck said pulling out his iPnone.

As it turned out everyone was still around with most of them leaving some time today. Three G6 Jets were flying in to from around the country. The Jets were owned by the CIA through shell corporations. No one knew about these planes but the top few people in the CIA. They were the Black List transportation for high ranking agents, and they didn't exist as far as the FAA was concerned. The team would be taking them to the various cities they were assigned to. The team arrived in a half hour most of them with bags packed. They sat around the conference table and watched Chuck bring big platters of eggs, bacon, fruit, and French toast to the table. "I made a lot so everyone dig in." Chuck said carrying a tray of champagne flutes and two pitchers of mimosas.

"What's the occasion Chuck?" Melissa asked with a smirk.

"This is the last time the whole team will be all together for a whole week. We are all headed off on missions. Some of us are leaving today, some in a few days. I wanted us to all have a meal together before we all left. I know some of you have families." Chuck said looking to Melissa and Steven Snow. "Some of you don't." Chuck said looking to Anna and Carina. "I want you to know that we're your family too. As most of you have come to realize over the last two weeks working with us, we treat each other differently then most teams do. We look after each other. Care about each other. We disregard the fraternization rules obviously." Chuck said taking Sarah's hand and smirked at Richard and Victoria sitting next to each other. "And above all else, this team comes first. If things don't go as planed during the Sunday raids then fall back and either call for reinforcements, or if the target is in one of the warehouses call in a drone strike. None of the Fulcrum guys you're going after are top agents. I have all of those guys lined up to get there brains fried. The people you are rounding up are lower level guys or tactical guys. Non of them should put up much of a fight. I think I can also pull a few more Fulcrum people out of the field and bring them to L.A. where we have four agents that can deal with them. The whole point of this little speech is to tell you that no one is worth you getting hurt over. I want all of you back here by next week Wednesday for an after action meeting and to discus what happens next. I can tell you all right now that you are all going to be permanently assigned to this team and you will all be receiving new covers in Roark Industries with new salaries to match. We want you to be happy. If you want something? Let us know. Money will not be a problem. After next week we are going to have a budget of a fifth of Fulcrum's running costs. Alex, tell them how much that is." Chuck said smirking.

"You said a fifth?" She asked wide eyed and light headed.

"That's right. I'm talking about the best equipment, and five star service. We will have a fleet of Jets. A couple hundred cars to chose from. We are even going to retro fit the B1 Lancer we confiscate into an emergence transport, and cargo mover. If you need help a team of highly trained killers can get to you in a matter of hours anywhere in the world. If you have someone you think would be a good fit for the team tell us and we will get them assigned to us. No matter what country they work for." Chuck said looking to Anna.

"Great speech Chuck." Melissa said bumping shoulders with him.

"You are the best yes man a guy could have." He said patting her on the back.

"You're the boss, we follow you so we have to keep you happy." She said smirking.

"That's where you're wrong. I'm more of an idea guy. I'll be the figure head, and I'll make sure the team has everything they need but these two are going to be the leaders." Chuck said pointing to Casey and Sarah. "Sarah will be the mission leader, and Casey will lead the tactical side. The three of us will run things." He said, and he got a lot of head nods from the rest of the group.

After breakfast the groups broke up to go their separate ways. Most of the team left for the airport. Morgan and Alex went to scout out the locations of his and Anna's mission. Casey went to the hotel hosting the party they were going to attend tonight. Sarah went back to the range to keep her skills up. As well as her confidence. Chuck was looking over files of the two arms dealers they were going to track at the party with Melissa.

Melissa flashed on a file. "Man that hurt." She said holding her head.

"It does at first, but it gets easier over time. After your fifth flash they come with almost no pain, and the skills flashes are always pain free as you know." Chuck said tossing her a bottle of Advil he carried with him at all times.

"Thanks for the heads up." She said taking two of the pills.

"What did you flash on anyways?" Chuck asked.

"This guy." She said tossing him the file.

Chuck picked it up and flashed. Marcus Slater, 42, native of London. Former SAS. Arms dealer and information broker. All around bad guy. "Wow it looks like you hit the jackpot. Put it down in the file and add anything that might help Sarah plan out tonight's mission." Chuck said sliding the laptop over to her.

"Right. This is fun Chuck. I've never been on this side of information gathering. This is asset work." She said typing.

"Yeah it's fun in the beginning but it gets to be boring after awhile." Chuck said.

"Well it beats having to whore yourself out to nasty men. I'd love to do this… Um Anna. I don't think that's going to work." She said turning to Anna as she walked into the room.

Anna changed into a short plaid skirt and white button down shirt. She added high heeled Marry Jane's and a small back pack. She pulled her long black hair into a ponytail and added bright red lipstick. "Um Anna, the idea was to get his attention, not to give the guy a heart attack." Chuck said catching himself running his eyes over her tight body.

"What? Is this not how girls dress to go to school?" She asked looking confused.

"No Anna. Not at all." Chuck said blinking the dirty thought out of his head.

"Well what am I supposed to wear? I have a class in two hours and I wanted to scout out the campus." She said dropping her backpack onto the table and pouting.

"I'll help you get ready. Come on." Melissa said standing up and taking Anna's hand. "Chuck, you keep working. We need to get that file ready for Sarah soon so she has time to look it over." She said marching the small Russian assassin out of the room.

Chuck spent the next fifteen minutes working on the files trying to finish compiling the information into one file. He flashed on another name. Greta Vongetton, 33, former German intelligence. Now Spy for hire. It looked like Carmichael was going to have some work tonight after all. He smirked. As he was typing this information down his iPhone rang. "Carmichael." He said.

"Chuck, we got a problem." Casey said.

"What's up?" He asked sitting up.

"Your pal Larkin is here in the hotel. He's checked in under the name Antony Stark. I think he's tracking someone staying at the hotel." Casey said.

"Shit! We need to get him out of there. If Fulcrum finds him it's going to fuck up my plans!" Chuck said.

"Well how do you want to do this?" Casey asked.

"Is he in his room?" Chuck asked thinking.

"No he's sitting in the hotel restraint eating lunch and standing out like a sore thumb. He's very easy to spot and he's flirting with the wait staff and drawing attention to himself." Casey said holding his left hand over his forehead as he watched.

"I'll be there in ten minutes to deal with him. If someone sees me with him I could always say I found him and killed him." Chuck said grabbing the black suit jacket off the coat rack and running up the stairs. Jumping into the Pontiac G6 parked out front he revved the engine and pulled off a perfect J-turn and punched it out of the parking lot doing sixty. As he shot onto the expressway darting in and out of traffic he called Melissa.

"Hey Chuck? Where did you go?" She asked.

"Brice Larkin is at the hotel. Casey called me to tell me. I'm on my way there to sneak him out the back and bring him to Castle. Can you finish the file for Sarah?" Chuck asked.

"Sure Chuck." She said.

"Good, and don't tell Sarah what's happening. I don't want this to throw her off her game. I should be back in a half hour." Chuck said.

"I'll handle it Chuck." She said hanging up.

Chuck darted into the parking lot and pulled into a space across from the back door to the hotel. He pulled his jacket on. Pulled the silencer out of the trunk and added it to his gun and hid it in his back. He met Casey in the hotel lobby. "Where is he?" Chuck asked subtly looking around.

"Still having lunch." Casey said nodding at the dining room.

Chuck glanced over and rolled his eyes. Brice was sitting in the middle of the room and chatting up a blond waitress. He was in a real quandary as to what he should do here. If he sat down across from him and told him they had to go Brice would make a scene. It was too early in the day to pull the same drunk guy walk out he did with Victor Sidorov. His only option was to get to him in his room. "What room is he staying in?" Chuck asked coldly.

"Room 625. Poolside view of course." Casey gruffly.

"Right. When he goes up call me on my cell. Then get a room service cart and come up to the room." Chuck said.

"What are you going to do?" Casey asked.

"He's coming out of that room hidden under that cart like the bomb we defused that first night we worked together. Weather he's conscious or not will be up to him, but I'm in no mode for his bullshit right now. I'll put a fucking bullet in his ass if I have to, then I can take his body to Roark and score some more points with him." Chuck said coldly.

Casey looked at him oddly for a second before he nodded. "I understand. I'll buzz you when he leaves." Casey said.

Chuck turned away and walked to the elevator across the lobby blending with the crowed as he went. "That kid scares me sometimes." Casey said shaking his head. Before going back to watching Larkin.

Chuck got off the elevator and turned left, walking with the confidence of a guest staying at the hotel. When he walked by the maid pushing a cart full of towels down the hall he brushed by her and took her key card. He turned to room 625, swiped the card, opened the door, flipped the metal door slide out of the door and let it close without locking. He walked back down the hall and dropped the key card on the floor. "Excuse me miss?" He called out to the maid who was looking for her card on her cart. "I think you dropped this." He said picking up the card when she looked at him. "Here you go." He said smiling as he handed the card over.

"Thank you so much! I thought I left it in the last room I was in." She said.

"Your welcome. Have a nice day." Chuck said with his charming smile turned way up. When he turned back to the room he let the smile fall off his face. He walked into the room and closed the door.

A half hour later Brice dropped a hundred dollar bill on the table as he stood up and drained the last of his wine. He loved staying at the Belmont hotel. They had the best food, and the hottest looking staff he thought as he locked eyes with his blond waitress and winked. Walking across the lobby he missed Casey sitting in a chair by the elevator. He smile at a red head that got on the elevator with him and almost forgot to hit the button for his floor. He was smiling and whistling a little tune as he opened his door but stopped when he saw a man in a black suit sitting in a chair covered by the shadow of the curtain pointing a gun at him. "Come in and shut the door Mr. Larkin." Chuck said in his no nonsense voice. Brice took two steps into the room and made a very obvious pull for his gun. Chuck shot him three times in the chest dropping him to the floor as Casey walked up with the cart.

"You just shot him? I could have done that my self." He said kicking Brice's gun away and closing the door.

"He's wearing a vest. He's always wearing a vest, big pussy." Chuck said sticking a .4 milligram dart into his arm. "And my anger got the better of me. Now lets get him under the cart and get the fuck out of here before we get seen." Chuck said grabbing Brice by the collar of his suit and picking him up.

They took him down the back elevator, through the back door, and tossed him into the G6's trunk. Chuck drove him back to Castle and had Melissa help him drag Brice into an interrogation room, and cuffed him to the table. That's when Sarah walled by and looked in. "What the hell are you two doing?" She asked.

Chuck ushered her out of the room. "He was hanging around the hotel eating lunch in the middle of the dining room and hitting on the wait staff. Basically he was making a scene, and drawing attention to himself. He has no reason to be in the US let alone L.A. where Fulcrum is actively looking for him. He's either trying to get caught, or he's bumbling his way through a mission. Ether way he's a danger to himself and this team and I will personally kill him before I let him get someone on this team hurt by his stupidity." Chuck said coldly.

"But Chuck you can't make snap judgments like that. He could have been tracking someone to that hotel. You could have blown his mission. If you're going to be an agent that you have to respect other agents work." Sarah said shaking her head.

"If he's tracking a target then he should have checked in with us and Beckman. He knows this is our jurisdiction. We could have set up a watch detail, ran his op. and handed anything we got over to him. He is being actively hunted by a rouge intelligence group with information gathering and highly skilled operatives everywhere. He should have stayed clear of the US like we told him. He knew we were running an op with undercover agents in Fulcrum. Instead he risked our lives by showing his face in an L.A. hotel where he checked in under the name Tony Stark because that's not the most recognizable comic book names in the world right now. He made no attempt to hide his identity. He's acting like a real asshole. He thinks he's James fucking Bond and I'm about to break him of that notion. I just called Anna. She'll be here in two hours. I want to know everything he knows. I want to know why he's here. And I want to see if he's willing to sell us out to Fulcrum. You still think you trust him? Then lets see how he holds up under questioning." Chuck ranted as he walked down the hall towards the conference room.

"Chuck you can't have him tortured!" Sarah called after him.

"Who said anything about torture? I'm going to have her straight up question him. He's a huge pussy, he'll fold without even the mention of torture." Chuck said taking a seat at the table.

"You really think so little of him?" She asked.

"I think it's sad you still think so highly of him. He's a joke. A pretty face, tough guy attitude, and a bullet proof vest. I'm more agent then him and I'm two weeks on the job. I'd put Melissa against him before the download." Chuck said.

"This is ridicules. We have a mission tonight! We don't have time to play out your little revenge fantasy." Sarah said in a huff.

"How hard in this going to be? You flash your tits and a smile at one of the two men, Melissa does the same with the other and I give this German chick the treatment I give to every woman. We play them for a bit, see why they're at the party, and arrest them at the end of the night. If you think you need more time to prepare for that then I can bench you and send Carina." Chuck said pissed off at her defense of Brice.

"I can do my damn job. I just think it's petty to use team resources to exact revenge on the guy that took your girlfriend." She said getting in his face.

"If I was being petty I would have shot him in the face and took his body to Roark to forward my mission. Instead I pulled your boyfriend out of the fire. Are you going to stand there and tell me that having him questioned by someone he doesn't know to get anything we can out of him is the petty thing to do? If you don't think this is a priority then call Beckman and see what she has to say. But you're not going to do that because you know I'm right. You know this is the right thing to do. You also know that in about two hours and ten minutes from now when he tries to sell us out to save his own skin you're going to feel very sorry for even questioning me. So why don't you go back to whatever you were doing before I came in and we can skip the fight we are about to have over Brice Fucking Larkin!" Chuck finished with a yell. He took a deep calming breath and looked at her shocked face. "Look I'm sorry for raising my voice, but you know I'm right." Chuck said softly.

Sarah looked like she was going to argue but then she thought about what he said. Why was she fighting over something she knew was right. Was it Brice? Was she sticking up for him out of her feeling for him? Was she just getting her hackles up because Chuck went back to being Carmichael? Why was she always fighting with Chuck? It seamed like ever since this mission started all they did was fight and have make up sex. Was it always going to be like this? She dropped her head and shook it. "When Anna gets here call me. I want to watch the interrogation." She said walking off.

Chuck just nodded. He knew what she was going through. He felt the same way when they were questioning Jill. He felt a little out of it. Like he didn't know how to feel. On one hand he loved her. At one point in his life he thought he was going to spend the rest of his life with her, but on the other hand he was in love with Sarah, and he would do anything for her. It was the same for Sarah and Brice. She loved him once. Then she lost him and for a long time he could tell she wasn't over him. In fact he was sure she was going to leave with him, but she didn't and that gave Chuck hope. For the first time he thought he had a chance to get her to love him as much as he loved her. Now she was standing in the hall watching the man she loved cuffing the man she used to love. It was a strange bag of emotions she was living with right now and there was nothing Chuck could do or say to help her through this situation. He need the information from Brice and he was sure this was the only way he was going to get it all. He was also sure that Brice was a traitorous scum bag, and would turn on them the second he could. This would prove it and hopefully he could get him assigned to Greenland with the tape of the interrogation.


	25. Chapter 25

When Anna got to Castle she looked at Brice and then looked back to Chuck. "Orders?" She asked.

"I want to know everything he knows. I want to know why he's here in the US. Why he's here in L.A. Why he was staying at the hotel. Who he was there for. Then I want you to ask him about the Intersect. Ask him where it is and who has it. If he starts talking don't interrupt him. I want it all." Chuck said.

"What's my angle?" She asked.

"Fulcrum agent." Chuck said holding up a small black suit and white shirt.

"Restrictions?" She asked taking the clothes into the room across the hall.

"Nothing physical, but if he tries to get fresh with you put him down hard. I shot him three times in the chest so he might have cracked ribs." Chuck said receiving a nod from Anna and a shocked look from Sarah.

Anna shucked her t-shirt and jeans and donned the suit and shirt. She pulled a pair of black heels out of her purse and pulled her hair into a tight bun at the back of her head. "How do I look?" She asked in perfect English without even a hint of an accent. In fact she sounded a bit nasally like she was from the mid west.

"Where did your accent go?" Chuck asked.

"I'm a mimic. I pick up accents. This is Melissa. I've spent a lot of time with her over the last few days and I picked it up." She said wiping her bright red lipstick off, and adding a pair of black rimmed glasses from her bag of tricks. "All right. Lets do this." She said hitting the button on the panel and walked into the room. She saw Brice flinch when the door banged close and she smirked. "Mr. Larkin. I know you're up. We can start the questioning like grown ups or I can tazzer you and we can start from there." She said taking a seat on the other side of the table.

Brice sat up and smiled at Anna in what she figured was a charming smile, but on her it did nothing. "Hello beautiful. My name is Brice, what's your's?" He asked.

Anna took his hand and sat up leaning over to give him a long look down her shirt. "Mr. Larkin, I'm a highly trained agent." She said in a sexy voice. She took his fingers in her hand and violently bent them back to just before the breaking point causing him to yelp and turn red. "So your bullshit wont work on me." She said in a cold voice as she flexed his fingers a little bit more pulling him half way out of his chair. She let them go back to the position she had them in before and waited till she had his full attention. "Mr. Larkin, we here at Fulcrum pride ourselves on being civil when we can. I would like to try holding a civil conversation with you, but if you keep fucking with me I'll be forced to do things to you. Things you wont like very much. Now I've been instructed to obtain cretin information from you. I will get this information out of you one way or another. The question is time. How long will you be able to hold out on me? You might think days, a week even, but the truth is you know you wont last that long. Every one breaks. We all know this fact, it's just how long it takes." Anna said calmly.

"I don't know anything." Brice said.

Anna let go of his fingers and stood up from her chair making sure his eye traveled over her well toned bare legs dangling out of her skirt. She walked around the table to stand over him. "Mr. Larkin…" She said laying her hand on his shoulder. "Brice," She said in a sexy voice as she ran her hand over his shoulder stopping at his neck. "I can make your life very miserable for the next few days, or I can make the next few days very pleasurable." She said sliding her hand down the front of his chest under his shirt. "The choice is yours, and if you're a really good boy we might even offer you a job." She said running her hand over his right nipple making him grown. "lets start with something very easy. Why are you here in L.A.?" She whispered next to his ear. 

"I'm tracking an information broker." Brice said closing his eyes and letting his head fall back until it was resting on Anna's chest.

"Good boy." She said kissing him on the neck. "Where were you before you came here?" She asked.

"I was in Rome." Brice said enjoying her hands as they unbuttoned his shirt.

"Who is the information broker?" She asked slipping another button through it's loop.

"Greta Vongetton." Brice said.

"Why did you want to meet her?" She asked running her fingers over his chest under the vest.

"She was going to sell me some information about Fulcrum. I wanted the name of a contact I could talk to about joining the group. I want in." Brice said turning his head so his lips could kiss Anna's shoulder.

"Why do you want to join Fulcrum?" She asked giving him better access to her long slender neck.

"No one respects me in the CIA after the Intersect thing, and I'm tired of getting the cold shoulder. They have me running around the world chasing leads that go no where. I want to be in the action again." Brice said kissing his way along her jaw.

"To join Fulcrum you have to offer up something we want. Do you have something to give us for letting you join?" She asked running her hands over his lower belly.

"I know where the Intersect is." Brice said.

"Where is it?" Anna asked running her hands over the bulge in his pants making him shudder.

"Not an it, but a who." Brice said running his tongue over her lips before kissing her.

Anna let him kiss her for a few seconds before she pulled back. She undid one side of the cuffs and re cuffed Brice with his hands behind his back. She pulled his chair out and sat across his thighs. "Who is it?" She asked.

"Chuck Bartowski." Brice moaned out as she started to grind on him.

"Where is this Bartowski guy?" She asked thrusting her chest into his face.

"He's undercover in Fulcrum right now under the name Carmichael. Charles Carmichael." Brice said as Anna slipped out of her jacket.

"Carmichael is deep cover? How? He's done things to prove his loyalty." She said popping a few buttons on her shirt as she did a little lap dance for him.

"It's all bullshit. Chuck is a nerd that works at the Buy More. He's a nobody. With out Walker and Casey he'd be dead by now." Brice said with a cocky laugh.

"So Carmichael is the intersect? This is too good to be true. We can use him once we break him." Anna said humping his crotch.

"I can help you with that. I know him. I can break him very easily. And if he's still resistant to talking then we can kidnap my ex Sarah walker. She trust me, I can call her and set up a meeting. We might even be able to bring her in as well. She must be board babysitting Chuck for the past two years." Brice said kissing his way down her neck to her chest still hidden by her half open shirt.

"I don't think Walker will get us very far, they had a falling out. Is there anyone else you can think of that we can use against him?" She asked undoing the rest of her shirt buttons to reveal her lacy black push up bra.

"We can kidnap his sister. Eleanor. She a doctor. I think if we hurt her in front of him we can keep him in line." Brice said kissing his way to her right breast, but it was soon out of reach as Anna stood up. "What?" Brice asked but he got a right cross to the chin as his reply.

Anna buttoned her shirt as Chuck stormed into the room with clod rage burning in his eyes. "Anna Leave the room please, and take Sarah with you." Chuck said in a voce so cold it made her shiver. When she was out of the room Chuck turned to Brice and jabbed two fingers into the center of his chest drawing a blood cradling scream out of Brice. "Kidnap my sister?" Chuck asked just above a whisper but the tone of his voice made Brice cower in fear.

"Chuck, Buddy! It's nice to see you. I was worried…" That's as far as he got before Chuck slammed his elbow into his nose.

"Speak to me again like I'm your friend and I'll fucking kill you!" Chuck said jabbing his two fingers into Brice's left shoulder joint.

"What do you want me to say?" Brice asked looking afraid.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions. If I think you're lying I'll make you wish you were dead." Chuck said pinching his broken nose and snapping it for emphasis. "Was everything you said true?" Chuck asked.

"No, I was trying to stall for time until I could escape." Brice said smiling.

Chuck jabbed his two fingers into Brice's lower abdomen causing Brice to vomit violently. When he empted his stomach Chuck picked his head up by his hair and looked him in the eyes. "I've known you for years, I know what you look like when you lie. Keep it up and I'll fuck you up so bad they won't be able to identify your corps." Chuck said staring him dead in the eye.

"It was all true. I didn't lie. I have a meeting with Vongetton tonight to get a contact for Fulcrum recruitment." Brice said.

"Has she seen your face yet?" Chuck asked.

"No."

"Have you told anyone in Fulcrum about me?"

"No."

"Have you told anyone I'm undercover?" Chuck asked.

"No"

Chuck took hold of Brice's right ear and pulled hard ripping it half off his head, and drawing screams from Brice. "Do you want to try that last one again?" Chuck asked pulling on the torn ear.

"I told Vongetton there was an agent in Fulcrum! It's how I got the meeting! But I didn't tell her it was you! I Swear!" Brice screamed in a panic.

"Good." Chuck said patting him on the side of his face. "See what happens when you tell the truth? I have to tell you Brice I'm a bit disappointed in you. I can't say I'm shocked that you would sell me out seeing as you've been fucking me over from the day we met but I'm disappointed that you would sell out Sarah that easily. Did you ever love her or were you using her to forward your carrier?" Chuck asked taking a seat on the table in front of Brice.

"I always liked the sex with her. She can be a real hot lay." Brice said before flinching but the pain never came.

"You tell the truth and I don't hurt you remember. You don't fallow instruction well do you? What were you hoping to gain by joining Fulcrum?" Chuck asked.

"Real action. I've been doing bullshit for the past two years." Brice said.

"But what would you have done when they found out you were full of shit?" Chuck asked but Brice just glared at him. "Right. This meeting you set up for tonight, what were the particulars?"

"There were none. I was going to attend the party, spot her at the bar and go introduce myself." Brice said.

Chuck jabbed his ribs again. "What is the password?" Chuck asked.

"What are you talking…" Brice said but stopped when Chuck grabbed his ripped ear. "TIME! SHE"S GOING TO ASK THE TIME!" Brice yelled.

"What is the pass code?"

"4:35 PM." Brice said.

"Anything else you want to tell me before I hand you off to the NSA for questioning? They will get everything but it's a lot easier to tell me now. They will be a lot worse them me, and you know it." Chuck said.

"That's everything I know." Brice said.

"Good. Oh, before I forget." Chuck said before punching Brice in the junk as hard as he could making Brice almost pass out. "If you ever even think about my sister again I'll show up at whatever hole they're going to hold you in and I'll cut your fucking balls off." Chuck whispered to him before walking out of the room. Outside the door he saw Anna, Melissa, and Sarah standing there with different looks on their faces. Anna looked impressed. Melissa looked vengeful, but Sarah looked sad and ashamed. "I asked you to take her away from here." Chuck said looking to Anna.

"She wouldn't go, and she needed to see it." Anna said looking down as if waiting for him to beat her.

Chuck patted her an the shoulder softly. "I know. Thank you for getting him talking." Chuck said nodding for Melissa to take Anna out of the hall before looking to Sarah. "How are you with this?" Chuck asked.

"I honestly don't know." Sarah said looking like she was going to cry and be sick at the same time.

"Well lets start with you and me. Are you okay with the things I did in that room?" Chuck asked.

"I am. I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from killing him. It's one of the reasons I stayed on this side of the door." Sarah said coldly.

"Okay. How do feel about turning him over to the NSA?" Chuck asked.

"I feel nothing." She said looking sad.

"How about your feelings on the things he said in there?" Chuck asked.

"Sick, I feel sick to my stomach. Not that he broke, like you said he was weak so I knew he would break, but for him to turn us in so he could join the other side is just too much for me to handle." Sarah said letting her tears fall.

Chuck pulled her into his chest. "I know. I felt sick too when he first said it." Chuck said.

"How can he turn on us like that Chuck?" She asked.

"I don't know. I would never do it. Neither would anyone else on the team for that matter." Chuck said.

"No they wouldn't." She said.

"Not to sound callous, but do you think you're up for this mission tonight?" Chuck asked.

"Yes. I should be fine."

"Are you sure? We have other people that can do this. I know I'm mostly running on anger right now and I think hurting him took most of the sting out of it for me, but you just heard some things in there that can really mess with your cool." Chuck said holding her close.

"I can handle it. I'm just shocked I think." She said shaking her head.

"As long as you're sure, because we have Alex , Anna, and Carina on stand by. You can run the op. from the van, or the bar." He said walking her back to the conference table.

"I know, and I'm glad we have back up, but I think a mission will take my mind off of this whole situation. Later you can hold me, and I can have a good emotional breakdown but for now I think I just have to forget about this whole situation." She said.

"Then maybe you should take Anna and Melissa to the kitchen and talk about the mission tonight while I brief Beckman on the situation." Chuck said.

"That's a good idea Chuck." Sarah said.

When the three women left the room Chuck called Beckman on the big screen. "General. We have a situation Ma'am. Major Casey spotted Brice Larkin at the Belmont hotel. His being in the US, and at the location of a mission was suspicious to both the Major and I so I thought it would be a good idea to bring him in to Castle for questioning by a new team member to see what information we could shake lose. This is a tape of his interrogation." Chuck said playing the video for her. By the end she looked shocked and sickly.

"My God. We are very lucky that you got to him when you did, good work Agent Carmichael. I'll have an NSA transport team get him off your hands ASAP." She said shaking her head.

"Thank you Ma'am. We are going to be a little busy tonight with the mission but I will have Agent Grimes standing by for the transfer." Chuck said.

"Yes that will be fine. How is tonight's mission coming along?" She asked skipping the Agent Grimes line all together.

"Good Ma'am. Agent Walker will be ready for a full briefing in a few hours, I can tell you there are going to be three major players there tonight." He said.

"Thanks' for the heads up. Keep up the good work." She said ending the call.

Six hours later Chuck walked into the ballroom of the Belmont hotel. He looked around and spotted Casey at the bar, and Alex walking around the room with a drinks tray. Fixing his bow tie he brushed a spot of lint off his tuxedo lapel and spotted Melissa walking in. She had a black dress on that hugged everyone of her breath taking curves and showed enough cleavage to stop traffic. Catching her eye he smiled and winked at her making her smirk. Chuck spotted his target at the bar. She was tall, with a slim figure and her short blond hair cut into a bob accentuated her long neck. She was wearing a gold dress with an open back showing of her graceful spine. She was drinking a glass of white wine and rolling her eyes at a guy that was trying to hit on her. Chuck walked over to the bar and ordered a black label on the rocks from Casey who gave him the drink on a napkin that said three drinks on it. That meant she was working on her third drink. Chuck nodded, wiped the condensation on his glass with the napkin to make the ink run, and left it on the bar ink side down for Casey to take. Chuck stood with his back to the bar looking at the crowd. He spotted Melissa talking to her target. She was sitting next to him touching his arm and smiling. She played the bimbo slut very well and soon she would get what she needed from him before taking him upstairs where Anna was waiting to drug him and cuff him. Looking around he saw Sarah walking around the room. She was in a long red dress that had a low cut bodice and a long slit up the side to show off her sexy legs. He locked eyes with her and gave her a look that said they were both going to enjoy him getting her out of that dress. Sarah saw that look and blushed as she bit her bottom lip. He knew just what to do to get her turned on.

Chuck drained his drink and shifted down the bar to stand next to Greta. "I'll have another Black label on the rocks and a glass of white wine." He said without glancing at Greta. When Casey gave him the two drinks Chuck handed him a hundred dollar bill. "Keep it." He said. He turned to Greta who was looking at him and handed her the glass of wine without saying a thing, but his eyes promised sex that would be unforgettable.

She smirked. "Do you have the time?" She asked.

"4:35, Greta." He said with a smirk.

"Brice Larkin I presume?" She asked rolling her eyes.

"You may." Chuck said taking her hand and locking eyes with her. "Care for a dance. The bar is a bit crowded." He said pointing to the dance floor.

"I would love to." She said.

Chuck walked her to the floor and slipped his hand around her waist. In doing so he felt her small gun on her thigh. "Walter PPK?" He asked.

She smirked. "Sig229" She asked grabbing his ass.

"Glad we got that out of the way. You have a contact for me?" He said.

"You have a name for me?" She asked.

"I do. But before I give mine up I'm going to need to know your contact is on the level. Can I trust you Greta?" Chuck asked in a hypnotic voice as he pulled her close.

"You know I don't play around when it comes to work. I have a good reputation. The only way to keep it is to trade good intel." She said in his ear.

"You don't play around when it comes to work, but do you like to play around outside of work?" He asked, his warm breath on her neck making her shiver.

"I do but I don't mix business with pleasure Mr. Larkin." She said her voice hitching as his hand slipped down to hold the small of her back.

"How about we do pleasure first. Then we can talk about business." Chuck said brushing a soft kiss across her neck.

"I'd like that Brice. I must say I was expecting to be hit on, but I'm pleasantly surprised with this." She said arching her neck.

"What can I say Greta, I'm inspired to work hard." He slipped his hand down to her ass and grabbed it forcefully as he sucked on her earlobe. "Very hard. Two or three times before you pass out." He said sucking on her pulse point.

She pulled back and attacked his mouth. Chuck kissed her back just as hard without any hesitation. "I have a room." She said.

"So do I, but I also have champagne, and strawberries in my room." He said walking her to the lobby.

"Your room it is." She said kissing him again. He called the elevator and pushed her up against the wall next to the doors, pinning her to the wall and kissing his way down her neck.

"You're very good at this Mr. Larkin." She said panting as Chuck found a sensitive spot on her neck.

"I told you, I'm inspired to work hard." He said grinding his hip into her center making her shudder. The doors opened and Chuck spun her around and into the elevator. He hit six and latched on to her neck again. She pushed him back into the other wall of the elevator car and shoved her hand down his pants. Chuck had a split second to get her out of there before she saw he wasn't the slightest bit aroused so he spun her around and pined her to the wall lifting her leg with in his left hand. The move pulled her hand free from his pants. He used his right hand to pull the strap of her dress aside and attacked her soft pink nipple with his mouth. She threw her head back and moaned. The doors opened and he lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. He carried her to Brice's room and unlocked the door. He saw Anna over her shoulder holding a tranq gun but he shook his head. "Greta." He said slipping his hand up her dress, and over the front of her small lace panties. "What was the name of your contact." He asked nipping her neck with his teeth.

"Tiffany Carson." She moaned.

Chuck waved his hand and Anna shot her in the back with the dart. Almost instantly she fell limp in his arms. Chuck set her on the bed and Anna cuffed her arms behind her back and put duct tape over her mouth. Chuck put her in the huge bath tub and shut the door. "I'm the first one up?" He asked taking a seat in the chair across from her.

"Yes." She said.

"That's strange. I thought I'd be last. I had the hardest target. Former German secret agent. I was sure it would have taken longer then it did." Chuck said straitening his tie.

"Melissa said you can do things with your mouth. You have red lipstick on your face and neck." She said smirking.

"Yes, well, she was a bit of a feisty one." Chuck said wiping his hand over his face.

"I saw you had her dress half way off." Anna said.

"I had to. She put her hand down my pants. I'm telling you she was really going for it." Chuck said laughing.

"How can you do what you just did and not, I don't know, not feel anything?" She asked.

"I just did it. I felt nothing because I wasn't really doing it for fun. I put no emotion into it. You know all this you've been doing it a lot longer then I have." Chuck said.

"I know. It's just what happens when you feel something. What do you do then?" She asked.

"I don't know. I've never really felt anything before when I do it." Chuck said.

"What if you did?" She asked.

Chuck looked at her sitting there deep in thought and it finally clicked for him. "Anna, did you feel something when you were working over Brice?" He asked.

"NO! God no. He was disgusting. I wanted to kill him the whole time I was in that room. When he said those things about you and your sister I almost lost my temper and killed him. No I did not feel anything for him." She said.

Thank God Chuck thought. She didn't feel anything for Brice, but she didn't say she didn't feel anything for Scott. "How was your first day of College?" Chuck asked.

"Good. The campus was nice. I found the classroom easy enough. I waited to go in right after Scott so I could get the seat next to him. I found the class to be very boring. Scott helped me fallow along with the professor. After class I asked him if he wanted to get coffee at the little café on campus. I clocked the Assassin room mate. He's a cold one. I can see it in his eyes. He smirked when I asked and Scott was kind of shy. We sat and talked. Well he talked. I listened. I was going to ask him to dinner and tell him then but you called me. I ended up telling him in the coffee shop. He was so nervous and freaked out about the whole situation. I held his hand. He wasn't sure he could handle being in the same room with his room mate Jeff. I slid in to the booth next to him and wrapped my arm around him. I told him he had to be strong. He had to hold it together for his mom. Chuck he started asking me things. Things about his mom and why his room mate was going to kill him. Who I was. Why I was sent to look after him. He was shaking, and he looked panicked and I knew he would make a scene in the café so I,… I kissed him. It was just to get him to stop talking, you know, shut him up. But he kissed me back…" She blushed and smiled softly. "It was soft. Almost fearful. Like I would pull away if he pushed too far. When I broke the kiss he had this look on his face. Like he was drunk, and happy, and lost. I, well, I kissed him again." She said smirking. "Harder this time, and he responded. I pulled back and he came with me. He had this funny sad look on his face when I broke the kiss. Like I took away his toy or something. I told him to get his things and follow me. He did. He never said anything until we were sitting in Melissa's car." She said.

"Her Miata?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, she said she didn't need it because she said you got her a car. So she gave me the keys. She said I needed a girl car." Anna said giggling.

"She special like that. She looks out for us." Chuck said thinking about his second in command.

"She does. When we were sitting in the car he tried to say he was sorry for kissing me, but I just grabbed him and did it again. He was stunned. A few minutes later I ended up in his lap. Chuck I've never, I've been with a lot of men, even a few women, but I've never…." She looked lost but Chuck smiled. This was going better then he first thought.

"Enjoyed it? Felt something deep down inside your gut. Something warm, and fun. Like falling off a tall building or being on a roller coater. Like time slows down and things are right in the world." Chuck said smiling softly.

"Yes." She said sharing his smile.

"Love." Chuck said.

"No." She said dismissively.

"Love Anna. I just described my feelings for Sarah." He said taking her hand.

"But I can't love someone, it's against my programming. Everything I've been taught. All of my training." She said getting agitated. This was obviously a sore spot for her.

"What did you do when you made out with him?" Chuck asked getting her off that train of thought for now.

"I told him about how his mom was working undercover with some bad guys and to keep her honest they have a guy watching him. It's what we talked about telling him until she could sit him down and talk about the things she had to do." Anna said looking cold again.

"What else did you tell him?" Chuck asked.

"I told him to just keep calm and treat Jeff the same way he always did. I told him if Jeff started getting suspicious of his behavior to just say it was me. That he was thinking about me a lot. You know distracted and I programmed my cell number into his phone. If he ever felt like he was in danger he was to call me and I was going to get him out of any trouble he might be in." Anna said.

"Anything else?" Chuck asked.

"No,… well," She blushed.

"What?" Chuck asked smirking.

"I walked him back to his apartment and I kissed him again. Jeff found us making out on the steps of his apartment building." She said turning red.

"It's okay. It happens to all of us at some point. I remember the first time I fell for a girl. I met her in Stanford. Her name was Jill. She was perfect in every way. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with her." Chuck said sadly.

"What happened to her?" Anna asked.

"Brice got me kicked out of school and stole her from me." Chuck said smirking.

"I kill him!" She said coldly, her accent back in full force.

"Sit down Anna. Please. It's fine. I got over it. I found my Sarah." Chuck said pulling her back to her seat.

"Your Sarah?" She asked confused.

"My Sarah. You see Sarah is different things for different people. Like right now she's down stairs pretending to be her target's perfect woman. She's also the tactical mind that came up with our mission tonight. She's the Enforcer when she has to be tough. She's also a cold ice queen agent Walker. But sometimes, when it's just the two of us and nothing is going on, and the world doesn't need us to be anything else she's My Sarah. Soft and warm and cute. She's my dream girl. She likes to be touched, held, and loved. She pulls down her defenses, and opens up to me. In those moments she's My Sarah. And I'm her Chuck. Shy and self deprecating, and desperate to keep her happy. That's who we are Anna. That's us for real. Do you think I'm always that guy from the interrogation room? Do you think that guy's always running the show? No I only just found that guy, and to tell you the truth he scares even me. Anna what you found today with Scott was your inner Anna. I've seen you work Anna. I've watched you move through the world and I know under the cold, hard steal exterior you have something soft and sweet. The little girl that never went out with a boy. The little girl that needs to be loved and taken care of. She's been hurt before. When she thought she could trust someone and found out they were dark and evil under the kindly face of a mentor." He said softly and watched as she fell apart. Her eyes began to tear up and her face fell in on it's self. Her big light blue eyes lost there edge and she collapsed into a small ball. Chuck picked her up and sat her in his lap holding her head to his chest as she cried. "Let it out little one. No one is here to make fun of you or punish you. You can be a little girl again with me, and I'll protect you." He said rubbing her back.

"I trusted him and he did things to me. The more I screamed the more he hurt me. The others just stood there and watched. No one came to my rescue. No one." She cried.

"I know, but he can never hurt you again baby. No one will. Never again. We will watch you. Take care of you. Love you." Chuck said softly.

"I Love you Chuck. Like a brother. A big brother to look after me." She said pulling back to look at him.

"I know, and I'll watch over you. We all will. Look you already have a sister in Melissa. But one of the major break troughs in growing up is your first love. I know you've been hurt before and I know opening up will be very hard to do but I want you to spend some more time with Scott. In fact I want you to bring him by the shop tomorrow so we can talk to him. He sounds like a nice guy and I think sharing some time with him will help you heal some of the damage done to your little heart." Chuck said holding her small chin in his hand.

"You think so?" She asked.

"I do. Look at Sarah. When she first met me she was hurt, and sad. She didn't know what she wanted. The guy she loved just died. She was supposed to work me over to get what she wanted and she couldn't do that to a nice guy. She was unsure how to go about things and in the end she fell in love with me. I think you're in a similar boat Anna. You're hurt, you're lost and you just felt the first real thing that you ever had. Now you're emotions are exposed, and you feel venerable. Does Scott have his own room?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, but it's probably bugged." She said.

"Then I want you to call him and ask him to meet you at your hotel room. Talk to him and tell him the things you told me, or just lay with him and cuddle. Nerdy guys are good for that sort of thing. Was his phone bugged?" Chuck asked.

"No, I checked before we started talking." She said.

"Give me his number to so I can pass it around to the rest of us. In case something happens." Chuck said pulling out his iPhone.

"Here is his number." She said handing him her phone.

Chuck put the number in his phone and took the tranq gun. "I got this, you go see him, call him first so you know he's free. Go into the bathroom to get some privacy. I won't listen in." Chuck said waving her away.

"Okay, I'll go call him." She said blushing as she walked away. A few minutes later she came out smiling "He said he's not doing anything." She said trying hard not to look excited.

"Good, go talk to him, we'll see you tomorrow. Bring him by the shop so we can brief him." Chuck said.

When she left Chuck called Scott. "Did you call to cancel?" he asked.

"I'm not Anna, my name is Chuck and this conversation is Top Secret. Say yes if you understand." Chuck said in his most official sounding voice.

"Yes Sir." Scott said.

"Good, son I want you to listen to me very carefully. Agent Anna will be your handler for the next week. It's going to be very important that you fallow every instruction she gives you. Your cover is boyfriend and girlfriend. It's very important that your room mate believes your relationship is real. Both of your lives depend on that. Say yes if you understand." Chuck said.

"I understand Sir." Scott said.

"Good. Now the next few questions are going to sound strange but it's all information I need to know. Do you find Anna attractive?" Chuck asked.

"Very much so." Scott said without any pause.

"Good, next do you like her?" He asked smirking.

"Yes I do. I think I'm in love sir." Scott said blushing so bad Chuck could hear it through the phone.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about son. In fact can I trust you with a secret?" Chuck asked.

"You can Sir." Scott said.

"She likes you too."

"No, no way a girl like Anna would like me Sir." Scott said.

"She does son, and I know how you feel right about now. I started off as an annalist son, you know what that means right?" Chuck asked.

"Computer geek?" Scott said.

"That's right, and when you meet my wife tomorrow you'll understand me when I say I understand your situation son. But I called to ask something of you. I called to ask you to treat her right. She was hurt before. Growing up she was trained to be a stone cold killer. She had no life and men did things to her growing up. She felt something for the first time today when she was with you, and I want to foster that feeling. She need love, she needs to be taken care of. But the last thing she needs is you coming into her life and breaking her heart. You understand what I'm saying?" Chuck asked.

"I understand sir." Scott said.

"That's what I want to hear. I know a lot about you from you mother, from everything she told me I can tell you that if you treat her the way you were raised to treat a lady then you found the key to keeping her happy for the rest of her life. She's a good girl. The kind of girl that will stick by you forever, but you have to be the man I know you can be." Chuck said.

"I would never treat her with anything but respect." Scott said.

"Good Scott. I want you to do well with her, but more importantly I want to see her heal the scares on her heart. That means you treat her right or else." Chuck said.

"Or else what?" Scott asked sounding fearful.

"Or else I'll tell your mother. And we both know what she can do to you." Chuck said.

"I understand sir." Scott said fearfully.

"Good, we're on the same page then son. She's on her way over to you now. She's going to take you to her hotel room tonight. You will be spending the rest of the week there to avoid your room mate. Just because you two are sharing a room does not mean this is your chance to push for sex." Chuck said coldly.

"I would never!" Scott said.

"Good. I'm not saying don't I'm just saying let her set the pace and do the pushing." Chuck said.

"I understand sir." Scott said.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow and we can talk some more then. One last thing before I go." Chuck said. "The best advice I can give you is, be yourself. The geeky, nervous, and un-cool guy that you are. These spy girls love it." Chuck said smiling.

"I understand sir." Scott said.

"Call me Chuck. See you in the morning." Chuck said hanging up.

Chuck sat around for a while until he got a call on his phone. "Chuck Sarah's on her way up with her Mark. Stand by to tranq him." Alex said.

"Got you, thanks for the heads up." Chuck said pulling out the tranq gun.

A minute later he heard the door lock click open and the door was tossed open. Sarah was making out with a short Hispanic guy. She pull up and looked at Chuck. Chuck smirked and shook his head before raising in eyebrow. When she nodded Chuck shot him. He helped her pull him into the room. "Why are you here, I thought Anna was going to be here." She asked.

"I sent her to be with Scott. I think our little killer is finding girl feeling for the first time so I told her to go be with Scott. Besides it's not like this is a hard job I got Greta up here in like five minutes." Chuck said cuffing her guy and taping his mouth. "Come on help me get him to the bathroom, we can put him with Greta." Chuck said.

"And I can brush my teeth. He had tequila breath. I hate making out with scum." Sarah said wiping her hand over her lips.

"Greta was an aggressive one. Tried to get her hand down my pants so I had to go for a nipple. I am really sorry." Chuck said sadly.

"I get it. She really tried to get in your pants?" Sarah asked looking at the tall blond in the tub.

"Right in the elevator." Chuck said dropping her guy in the tub.

"Wow, that is aggressive. Did she give you a name?" Sarah asked swishing mouth wash around.

"Tiffany Carson. Former NSA, now Fulcrum recruiter. She spots talent in people that hate their jobs." Chuck said. "She would have loved Brice." Chuck said coming up behind her. Sarah spit smacking her lips. Chuck smirked. "They say after the wedding all the mystery goes away. I can see what they mean." Chuck said.

"I'll show you mystery." She said kissing him.

"I see how it is, Mr. short stuff got you all hot and bothered and now you want me to take care of you." Chuck said.

Sarah pushed him away. "Ew that's disgusting. Now I'm not in the mode to even look at you." She said walking out of the bath room.

Chuck came after her and scooped her up tossing her to the bed. He kissed her pinning her right arm above her head as he shifted his weight on her letting her feel his hardness. He pulled back with her bottom lip in his teeth when she was panting he smirked. "Still not in the mode?" Chuck asked in a deep voice as he looked at her through half lidded eyes.

"God I want you so bad right now." She said panting.

"And I'm more then willing to give it to you." Chuck said going in for another kiss when he felt his phone vibrate. "Shit. Carmichael," He answered running his right hand up Sarah's dress.

"Chuck, I think we are going to have a problem getting Marcus Slater up to the room." Alex said.

"Why, is Melissa have trouble with the flirt?" Chuck asked playing with the flesh of Sarah's inner thigh.

"Yes, but not for a lack of trying. He's been talking to her all night but every time she goes in for a kiss he turns away. Melissa thinks he might be gay. How do you want to play this Chuck." Alex asked.

Chuck stopped his playing cold. "What?" he asked.

"Slater's gay and he's not going up to Melissa's room if he's gay Chuck. We can't pull him. How do you want to do this?" Alex asked in a huff.

"Well this is something new to me. His file didn't say anything about him being gay. I'll talk it over with Sarah and come up with something." Chuck said hanging up. "Sarah, Slater is gay and he's not taking the hint to come up to the room. How are we going to pull this off?" Chuck asked.

Sarah sat up. "This changes things. The way I see it we have two plays here. We either approach him with something for sale, or we pretend to be an information broker and approach him as a new contact." Sarah said.

"Or I can try to pull him." Chuck said.

"Chuck I can't let you do that." She said standing up from the bed.

"Why not. I'll just treat it like I did Greta." Chuck said standing up and going to the big mirror to check his tux.

"Chuck it's hard for male agents to do this sort of thing. It can throw them off their game. Plus you've never picked up a guy before, you might get caught in a lie and get hurt." Sarah said standing next to him.

"I can do this. It's not like I'm emotionally connected to the women I play. It's not like I have to sleep with the guy. I just have to pick him up and bring him back to the room." Chuck said playing with his hair.

"Are you sure Chuck?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, sure. Just have Melissa meet me by the elevators to brief me on what he said so far. It will speed things along." Chuck said walking to the door.

"Chuck, if at any time you want to pull out and walk away just flag down Alex and she will spill a drink on you and get you out of the room. I can always try the other angle." She said.

"Got you." Chuck said fidgeting with his tie. Then he looked up at her with a smirk. "Toss me my wedding ring please?" Chuck asked.

"Here." She said pulling the ring from her bra. "Why do you want it?" She asked.

"Board husband on the prowl for an older gentleman." Chuck said slipping the ring on.

"I hope this works." She said.

"So do I." Chuck said walking out the door.

Chuck met Melissa at the elevators in the lobby. "Chuck are you going in there to pull Slater?" She asked looking worried.

"I am, what can you tell me, you've been with the guy all night." Chuck asked.

"He's been drinking Martinis all might. He thinks he's James Bond, but he's checked out every good looking guy in the room. He says he's in sales but won't give me anything else. He's using me as a beard. He's nice enough, but I can tell he's an aggressive one. I don't think this is a good idea Chuck." Melissa said.

"What do you mean aggressive?" Chuck asked.

"Men fall into two categories when it comes to sex, passive and aggressive. You Chuck are Passive, but Carmichael is aggressive. You get me?" She asked.

"I do. So this guy is aggressive? Will he try to pick me up, or should I try to play him?" Chuck asked.

"If you give him the right set of looks you might find him dragging you back to the room." She said.

"Good. Because I've never tried to pick up a guy before." Chuck said smirking. Chuck clocked Slater at the bar talking to a tall blond. Chuck walked right up to the bar and took the seat next to Marcus.

"Apple martini please." He said and Casey did a double take before nodding and making the drink. Chuck took an experimental sip and almost spit it out. It was sweet and sour and bright green in color. He looked to Slater and when the tall Brit tossed a pick up line at the tall blond Chuck laughed.

Slater turned around and gave him a dirty look. "Can I help you?" He asked acting tough but Chuck saw him give his body the once over.

"Look stud, we both know what team you play for. I saw you dodge the hot red head all night. Lets cut the crap and get out of here already. We both know you're leaving this party tonight with a boy. I just so happen to be looking for a little company for the evening. Why bother playing anymore? We both know you're coming up to my room." Chuck said before draining his glass and handing him a napkin. "I'll be waiting for you. Come up when you're done playing with the blond." Chuck said standing up and walking away. As he passed by Slater he let his hand brush across the taller man's shoulders. He walked out of the ballroom without looking back.

Slater looked down at the napkin and saw the room number. He smirked and turned to the tall blond. "I'm sorrow but I have to go. Thank you for the company." He said handing the bartender a few bills. "What every the lady wants." He said before walking out of the ball room. He made his way to the elevator and got off on the sixth floor. He knocked on the door and Chuck opened it standing in the doorway with his jacket off and his tie undone. "My name is Marcus Slater." He said smirking and looking Chuck up and down.

"Charles. Now that we got that out of the way we can get to the good part." Chuck said leaning in to kiss him. As he did Sarah came around the corner and shot him in the back with a tranq dart. Slater looked shocked for a second before he fell into Chuck's arms. "I've never had a man fall for me you know." Chuck said to Sarah as she helped him pull Slater into the room.

"How are you doing?" She asked as they zip tied his hands and duct taped his mouth.

"Fine, I didn't have to do a thing. In fact this was the easiest thing I've ever done." Chuck said taking a seat on the bed.

"Well don't get cocky. I can tell you right now you got off lucky. How did you pull him anyways?" She asked.

"I did it the same way I picked you up in that bar in Vegas. Walked right up to him and told him he didn't need to play any games with me. I knew what he was looking for. Apparently the direct approach works for almost anyone." Chuck said pulling on his coat.

"I'm totally shocked. I would have thought you would have at least had to kiss him. Give him the Carmichael even." She said sitting next to him.

"The Carmichael?" Chuck asked smirking.

"That's what Melissa calls it. It's the set of moves you use on women to get them panting for it. She explained how you do it and I must say it sounded rather hot." She said turning to him and kissing him behind his ear.

"That Carmichael. I see. Are you going to try to do it to me now?" Chuck asked letting her kiss his neck.

"I was thinking about it." She said. The door flew open and Melissa was looking down at two guns pointed at her head.

"Sorry, wrong room." She said smirking.

"What do you want I was busy trying to seduce my husband." Sarah said pouting.

"I came in here to check on Chuck." She said flopping onto the bed next to Sarah. "I see he got the job done. "Did you have to give him the Carmichael?" She asked.

"No and I really wish you guys wouldn't call it that." Chuck said shaking his head.

"You take all the fun out of everything." Melissa said sticking her tongue out at him.

"And you couldn't get the job done." Chuck shot back laughing.

"Hay it's not my fault he likes boys. Because we both know I could have beaten you up to the room if he wasn't gay." She said in a huff.

"What ever you say master seductress. I know I could have pulled Greta even if she was gay. It's called skills, you have none." Chuck said rolling his eyes.

"How dare you!" She said laughing.

"Both of you shut up." Sarah said shaking her head. "I have a feeling I'm looking at my future here. Are you two going to fight like this all the time?" Sarah asked.

"No, just most of the time." Chuck said making faces at Melissa.

"Chuck! Act like a grown up." Sarah said but when she turned around she saw Melissa making rude hand gestures back at him. "Never mind." She said laughing.

"How are we going to get the three of them out of here without being seen?" Chuck asked.

"Food carts. Casey and Alex should be coming up here any minute now with three of them." Sarah said.

"Good I want to get out of this dress. It's smashing my boobs." Melissa said wincing. "Who's dress is this anyways?" She asked pulling at the front.

"Mine and it's not my fault you have huge tits." Sarah said.

"You're just jealous." She said smirking.

There was a knock at the door and Chuck answered the door with his gun in his hand. It was Alex and Casey. "Lets get these guys loaded up and get them out of here. We still have to interrogate them back at Castle." Casey said.

Three hours later and Chuck looked down at his watch. It was two AM. "Okay people lets call it a night. We have all of the intel we can get from these three, lets send it on to Beckman and get out of here." Chuck said looking at the group sitting around the conference table. As everyone went there separate ways Chuck pulled Melissa aside. "When we go back I think we should fake a family injury so you can head off to Chicago sooner. It will give you a chance to get to know your targets and do some planning with the team and Jenifer. It will also give you a chance to see your folks. They need to know what you do and what you used to do. It will help them understand your job and let them in. It will also give you a chance to talk things over with your mother. Talking to me is one thing but I think you should tell her what really happened. Tell her what you did and what you can do now." Chuck said.

"I don't know if I could tell them the things I did Chuck. I don't know how they would react to it. I don't know if I could survive them turning me away for being a call girl." She said looking like she was going to lose it any minute.

"Then don't tell them, the choice is yours, but I think telling someone about your past would be beneficial to you. Either way you really should talk to them. There's no reason to not keep in touch with them now." Chuck said hugging her.

"I will Chuck." She said.

"That's my Angel." Chuck said.

"I walk away for a minute and already you're touching another woman." Sarah said shaking her head.

"What can I say? She's hot and she's cuddly." Chuck said kissing Melissa on the cheek.

"Keep it up and you'll sleep here at Castle." Sarah said smirking.

"You would kick me out of your bed?" Chuck asked like a little kid getting his candy taken away.

"I would." She said trying not to laugh at him.

"But I like your bed. It's soft and warm and it smells nice like you. Plus you're in it and that's good." Chuck said.

Sarah laughed "Come on stupid. Lets get you to bed before you say something to get you in trouble again." She said taking his arm in hers.

"Okay." Chuck said letting her pull him along. When they got to here hotel room Chuck tossed his clothes on the chair next to the bed and passed out the second his head hit the pillow. Sarah came out of the bathroom and saw him snoring. She smiled and slid into bed next to him. "I love you Chuck." She said kissing him.

"Love you too." He mumbled wrapping his arms around her.


	26. Chapter 26

The next morning Chuck heard the sound of his phone ringing. "Do you hear that?" He asked still half asleep.

"Yes, make it stop." Sarah said rolling over and tossing the blanket over her head.

Chuck reached over and pulled his pants off the chair. Digging in his pocket he found his phone. "Carmichael?" He muttered.

"Chuck. You said I should bring Scott to Castle this morning, but you are not here." Anna said.

Chuck sat up and looked at his watch. It was a little after ten. "I did but we were up late last night and we slept in. How about we meet you two somewhere for coffee and brunch?" Chuck said shaking Sarah awake.

"Sounds good to me. Where do you want to go?" She asked.

"Sarah, get up it's ten already and Anna wants to meet us for brunch so we can talk to Scott. Where is a good place around here?" He asked.

"Jenny's. It's a little place on the corner. Good pancakes." She said rolling out of bed and walking to the bathroom.

"Did you hear that?" Chuck asked smirking at the fact his wife was not a morning person.

"I did, we will meet you there in a little bit." She said hanging up.

Chuck walked into the bathroom when he heard the shower running. He drooped his boxers and slipped in behind her. "Why are they meeting us?" Sarah asked handing Chuck the bar of soap.

"They want to talk about what's going on and I also thought it would be good for them to see us together. Our little assassin has feeling for Scott and I wanted to foster that relationship. I thought it was a good idea for them to see us and how normal we can be together. It will also help them if we got the two of them alone and talked them through the process of falling for a computer geek, or trained killer. They are in a shockingly similar boat to us. This is the first time Anna has feelings for a boy and from the short talk I had with him it sounds like this might be Scott's first or second relationship. If we can help them through the adjustment period then maybe they could be as happy as we are a lot sooner then it took for us to get here." Chuck said.

"I can talk to her. Tell her how to deal with a geek." She said kissing him.

"And I can tell him how to keep his sexy little hit woman happy." Chuck said letting his hands roam around her soapy body.

The walked into the dinner a half an hour late and both of them still had wet hair. They spotted Anna sitting next to a tall thin guy in his early twenties. He was only about six foot tall but sitting next to Anna's small frame he looked huge. He had messy blond hair and the same light brown eyes his mother had. When they sat down at the table they looked up and smiled. "Hey, I'm Chuck and this is Sarah. I don't know what Anna has told you about us…"

"Almost everything." Anna said cutting off Chuck. "I kept his mothers mission details a secret. Aside from that I brought him up to speed." She said.

"Hope you two did more then talk last night." Chuck said smirking.

"Not that it's any of your business but yes we did more then talk last night." Anna said taking Scott's hand under the table.

"Good, that means we can skip right along to the conversation. Have you two ordered yet? I'm starving. I could kill a stack of pancakes and bacon." Chuck said looking for the waitress.

"Only drinks we were waiting for you." Scott said.

After they ordered and the food came the conversation flowed easy. Scott was inquisitive but not overly so. His years of being told by his mother that information was classified curbed some of his need to know every detail. Chuck let Sarah and Anna handle the conversation for the most part. He sat back and watched the by play between Anna and Scott. Towards the end of brunch Scott turned to Chuck. "So, what's it like working at RI? Is it as nice a place as I heard about?" He asked.

"Better, and in a few weeks when I take over running the place it's going to be even better then it is now." Chuck said.

"You're taking over RI? That's crazy awesome! Do you have any plans for it? Are you thinking about future tech, and where you might go with the company?" He asked.

"I do. I hear you're close to graduating, I've looked up your grades and I would like to offer you a job. I want you to head up a new project called Prometheus. I have this idea for a small powerful laptop. I want it to be light, small, and fast. I want it to be good for a verity of applications. I want it to also cost less then 250 bucks to make and I want to sell it to school children at close to cost. I want to forward children's education by putting a computer in every kids hands by the age of ten. The faster we get kids adapted to new tech, the faster they'll learn and the smarter they'll be. Think about the field of college graduates in fifteen years. Think about what we can do if we hired the top one percent of those gradates to work in the R&D lab. The future of tech will be carried on the back of RI and I was hoping you would help me do that." Chuck said.

"I think you're a genius Chuck. I can't believe RI hasn't started doing something like that already." Scott said.

"I wouldn't say that but now that I have your attention lets talk starting salary and perks." Chuck said.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Come on Anna, lets go order some stuff to take back to Castle with us." She said waving the smaller girl away from the table. When they were out of ear shot of the table Sarah turned to her. "How are you feeling with this new relationship? I hope Chuck isn't pushing you to go out with Scott?" She asked taking a seat at the counter.

"No, in fact I'm grateful for his coaching and words of encouragement. Last night was the best night of my life. We laid in bed together and talked and he held me close to him and we kissed." She said blushing.

"Kissed? That's all you did?" Sarah asked.

"Yes." Anna said.

"Then what's with the blush? I know you've done more with other guys. What's so special about kissing" She asked waving over the waitress behind the counter.

"It was different, soft and worm and, different! I don't know how to explain it!" Anna said in a huff.

The waitress walked over. "Can I help you?" She asked.

"Yes we would like to order some food to go and pay the check." Sarah said ignoring Anna and letting her stew in the words she just said.

"Sure thing, what would you like?" The waitress asked pulling out her pad.

"Let see who's going to be at the office?" Sarah muttered. "Let me have four bacon cheeseburger combos with strawberry milkshakes and are those pie made in house?" She asked.

"They are."

"I'll take an apple and a cherry pie with that." Sarah said.

"Coming right up." The waitress said walking away.

"Now what were you saying about the kissing?" Sarah asked looking at Anna.

"I said it was special." Anna said looking put out. She figured if there was one person that would understand her it would be Sarah. She was with Chuck after all.

Sarah saw the look in her eyes and smiled. "That look, the one that no one understands you, or what you have with Scott is something that can not be faked. Something that comes with finding something for the first time. Women like us, killers, and… seductresses. We are trained to not feel anything when we are intimate. We are taught to shut that part of us off. And after a while we think that will never happen for us. We will never feel something for a man again. Not with someone nice and loving and genital. It took me a long time to let Chuck in to my heart and my bed. For a long time I watched him put himself out there. Telling me how much he cared for me. How much he loved me. When I look back on that time I feel horrible about how I treated him. Never returning his feelings, or even trying to meet him half way. We lost almost two whole years of being together because I didn't know how to give him what he was giving me. And to top it all off I used him for his love and warmth. I used it to sleep better at night. To heal the parts of my soul I didn't even know were broken. He doesn't even begrudged me that time. The use of his trust and love. Because there is one universal truth when it comes to relationships between us and them. We are both very insecure. Them about having someone that looks like us and us having someone that can look beyond the training and see the real us. The girl that was ugly in high school until she was trained to be what you see before you. The little girl without a childhood, and in need of love more then anyone. That's something you're going to have to understand. It's not the looks, or the training. It's not even the skills we have in bed that make them fall for us. It's the girl under all of that. And that love does something to us. It touches us in a very special place." Sarah said smiling an open and happy smile, one she kept for Chuck.

"Yes. I understand that. The way he looks at me. The way he touches me. Like I'm going to run away if he says the wrong thing. If he stops paying attention to me one hundred percent. And his touch. So soft and warm. Last night was the most intimate night of my life and we both kept all of our clothes on." Anna said glowing.

"Well get used to that kind of feeling because it's going to happen a lot. The geeky ones always give way more then they are comfortable receiving." Sarah said flexing her eyebrows.

Back at the table Chuck was talking about starting salary until the two women were out of ear shot. "Good, now that they're gone we can get down to business. How did it go last night?" Chuck asked.

"What?" Scott asked trying to keep up with the conversation. "What about the job offer?" He asked.

"What about it? Your mom practically runs RI, she says you're top of your class, and you're family so what's there to talk about? You will be hired straight out of school at the top salary with an apartment in Roark Tower, and a company car. If I don't your mom will kick my ass so you have nothing to worry about. Now how did last night go? Did you two talk or did you go right for the sex? Was she as wild as she looks? I bet she fucks like a honey badger." Chuck said smirking a dirty looking smirk.

"HOW DARE YOU! I should kill you for talking about her like that! Do you have any idea what she's been through? She's not a sex toy!" Scott said standing over Chuck.

"Scott, Sit down please." Chuck said calmly. Scott kept looking Chuck in the eye. "Scott, I'm the one that told you all of this last night remember? So take a seat and we can talk. You are drawing attention to yourself and me." Chuck said calmly but there was a core of steel in his eyes one that told him he better sit before Chuck made him sit. He didn't know it but that was the look that would get things done for the team in the future.

"Right, sorry about that, it's just she told me things last night. Things that happened to her when she was younger. I, I don't like what you were implying." Scott said coolly.

"I understand. I would never say the things I just said to you for real. I was testing your feelings for her. It was a way to judge whether this was going somewhere or if I was going to have to put a stop to this. Now that I know your intentions are noble I can help you keep on her good side. Help you form a stronger bond. Loving a woman like Anna can be very hard at times. Her job requires her to do questionable things. Before she was working with us she had to do things that would have made being in a relationship with her hard, now that she has a team working with her the worst thing she might have to do is flirt with a guy, maybe some kissing but I doubt even that. I say this to you now because one day she might have to go on a mission, and when she comes home smelling like aftershave and her lips are puffy I don't want you to react the way any normal guy would react. I want you to think about the fact that her training shuts off any feelings she might be having when she does those things. I can tell you from experience that making out with a mark brings the agent absolutely no pleasure what so ever. Last night I flirted with a stunning blond German spy. I talked her into going up to my room. Told her things to make her excited. And got all the way to second base with her. At no point during that time was I the least bit turned on by her. In fact I had to stop her from touching my junk because I was totally limp. I'm telling you this not to scare you off, or freak you out, but as a heads up. If you don't think you can handle that type of situation then perusing this relationship might not be in your best interest." Chuck said.

"I don't think I would have a problem with that as long as I didn't have to see it. If I saw something like that I don't know what I would do. I don't think I could sit there and watch it happen." Scott said looking deep in thought.

"I understand where you're coming from. I've sat through it before and it's hard to watch. The next thing you have to remember is she's a trained killer. That doesn't mean you can't have an argument with her but it's a fact that you have to keep in the back of your head always. She won't kill you if you two disagree on something but you have to remember that until you two got together she would have killed you for pissing her off. You will see it in her eyes every once in a while. The look of her thinking of the ways she could kill you. Anna's been in the game longer so she might not tip her hand as much as my wife does, but it's something to look for. It will scare you when it happens the first few times but you get used to it after a while." Chuck said smirking.

"Right, no pissing her off, and if I do, watch for the eyes. Was there anything else you thought I should know?" Scott asked rolling his eyes.

"Scott, I know this might sound funny to you but the truth is I have a lot more experience with this sort of thing. Close to two years trying to get her to the point she's at now. Two years of hard work and a lot of nights thinking this is all for nothing. I can tell you that feeling will happen at some point. One day you're going to fight over something and you're going to feel like crap and the thought of: Is it all worth it? Will cross your mind. The answer for me is yes. For me, being with her is worth almost anything." Chuck said.

"So far you've done everything to dissuade me from going out with her. Is there any upside to this at all?" Scott asked looking freaked out at this point.

Chuck smiled. "The upside is you get to wake up next to her every morning and know she loves you so much she would overthrow a small country to protect you." Chuck said nodding to the two women walking back to the table.

"Right, there is that." Scott said smiling.

"What have you two been up to while we were gone?" Sarah asked sitting on Chuck's lap and kissing him.

"Nothing much. Chuck was telling me about RI." Scott said putting his arm around Anna's waist seeing as she was just as tall as he was when she was standing and he was sitting. "I'm going to be working there when I graduate, and I'm going to be living in Roark Tower."

"Good. We'll be neighbors then." Sarah said.

"What's in the bags?" Chuck asked thumbing through the bags Sarah had in her hand.

"Something for the team, it's not for you. If you're good I might let you have some pie, it's fresh made." She said slapping his hands away.

"Did you say pie?" Chuck asked looking excited.

"Chuck you just eat a huge stack of pancakes. How can you still be hungry?" She asked shaking her head.

"Well it's pie. There's always room for pie. And I thought we would spend the day together before you had to leave and I had to go back undercover." Chuck said wiggling his eyebrows before kissing her neck.

"Chuck! Not in front of the kids!" She said pushing him away.

"Don't mind us, it looks like a good idea." Anna said kissing Scott.

"See they don't mind." Chuck said.

"Yes, but I do. Lets get out of here before the food gets cold." Sarah said hopping up off his lap. "Let's go." she said walking towards the exit.

"Fine but I get you the rest of the day." Chuck said walking after her.

"We better go after them." Anna said.

"We will but first." Scott said turning her around and kissing her softly. "But first I wanted to say that I think I'm falling for you. I know it's not cool to say it so soon but I think you need to hear me say it as much as I want to say it." He said smiling.

"I feel the same way about you too Scott." She said and Scott's smile got bigger. She might not have said the words back but he was sure he was going to beat Chuck's record of two years by a long shot.

The rest of the day was spent at Castle for Scott and Anna, but Chuck took Sarah back to her hotel room around two and they weren't heard form again until morning. At nine Sarah dropped them off at Chuck's car Melissa got out and talked to the two agents that took their vacation for them. Chuck looked at Sarah. "The next time I see you we are going to be on the other side of this mission." Chuck said.

"I know. Then we can take some down time and work on getting our lives back together. We need to plan our wedding. We need to recall your sister and Awesome. We need to move into Roark Tower. We have to look at RI and see where things need to be fixed and what jobs we're all going to be doing. We also have to bring that tactical nuke back to the US without being seen. We have so much work to do Chuck. This mission is only the beginning." Sarah said.

"But we have a whole team of professionals we can rely on to help us get things back on track." Chuck said.

"True, now all we have to do is hope they all make it out alive." Sarah said darkly.

"They will. I know they will. We have the very best of the best and we have a leg up on the enemy, they don't know we're coming and I'm personally going to make sure the very worst of the worst die a very painful death. I have back up. You have back up. The whole team has back up. You just better worry about getting your job done and the rest of the team will do the same. By Wednesday of next week we will all be back in L.A. ready for the next obstacle. Now Kiss me, and go before I lose my nerve and try to stay with you longer." Chuck said pulling her in for a heart stopping kiss that left them both dizzy and happy. "See you in seven days." Chuck said getting out of the car.

"Chuck! Wait!" Sarah called out getting out of the car.

"Yeah?" Chuck asked turning to her.

"The ring." She said pointing to his hand.

"Right." Chuck said looking down at his hand. "I almost forgot. I think I'm getting used to it being on my hand." He said pulling it off. "Hold on to this for me will you love?" He said tossing her the ring.

Sarah caught it. "I will. I love you Chuck." She said smiling.

Chuck pulled on his sunglasses. "I know." He said smirking. He took two steps before turning back to see her shocked face. "It would have been such a bad ass move to just go with that but you know that isn't me." Chuck said taking off the shades. "I love you too Sarah. See you in a week." He said walking to his car. Sarah smiled and shook her head. He was a geek, but he was her geek. She got back in her car and drove away without looking back.

Chuck heard her go and as she left the smile dropped off his face. "You ready to go back?" Melissa asked.

Chuck turned to her and all she saw was Carmichael. Chuck smirked a wolfish smirk. "Lets go be bad guys." He said putting on his sunglasses.

"I've been waiting all weekend for you to say something like that to me." She said reading the briefing the agent left for them.

"So where did we go Sugar?" He asked.

"Wine country. Looks like we hit a few vineyards. Got drunk and spent a lot of time in our hotel room." She said with a hint of sexy to her voice.

"Did you work it out with your father? It's the reason we are coming back early after all." Chuck said.

"Yeah I coordinated with Jenifer and she briefed my family and a local hospital my sister-in-law works at. They called 911 this morning. She called me right after they got settled in the hospital. I booked a flight out of LAX in three hours." She said.

"You won't need it. You are going to be flying a Fulcrum G6 and you will have a car on the tarmac waiting for you. We want this to look like an unplanned event. How are you with the water works?" He asked.

"Really good. Should I start now?" She asked.

"Yeah. We want you to look like a mess by the time we hit the lobby. I called Jordan they should be meeting us at the lobby. They will just be going to RI when we get there. I want him off balance, and confused. We don't want him seeing through the lie." Chuck said as they approached Roark Tower Chuck checked his watch and pulled over. "We have six minutes. I want to be blazing up the driveway when they hit the lobby." Chuck said handing her a small vile. "Put some of this under your eyes. It will make your cheeks really red. Sarah gave it to me." He said.

She took out the swab and rubbed some of the clear oil on her cheeks. Instantly she started crying uncontrollable. "What the hell is this stuff?" She asked between sobs.

"She said it was a CIA trick. Like ipecac for your eyes." he said looking at her face.

"Well it fucking works. I haven't cried this hard since Bobby McCann broke up with me in the sixth grade." She said blowing her nose in the tissue.

"Okay," Chuck said looking at his watch. "It's go time. Hold on to something." Chuck said putting the car in gear and screaming out of the parking space. He punched it up to sixty and power slid around the corner and into the driveway. He spotted Roark and Jordan walking out. She pulled her gun and tracked the car as Chuck slid to a halt by the front door. Chuck put the car in park and hopped out. "Jordan! Man am I glad you're here. Come and take Melissa up to our apartment." He said waving her over.

Jordan put her gun away and ran over to the car. "What's going on Chuck?" She asked.

"Her dad's in the hospital. They called her about an hour and a half ago. She needs to be on the next flight out of LA headed for Chicago." Chuck said helping Melissa out of the car. When the two of them went into the building Chuck turned to Ted. "Sorry about all of this Ted." Chuck said walking over to him.

"No that's fine. What's going on?" Ted asked.

"We were fooling around in our room at this nice vineyard when she got a phone call from her mother. Apparently her Dad had a really bad heart attack. He's in the hospital right now. He's having open heart surgery and her mother doesn't think he's going to make it. She started freaking out on me, packing our bags and yelling for me to get the car and check out. We were on the road before she got the whole story out. She needs to get to Chicago to see her father before it's too late." Chuck said shaking his head.

"What can I do to help?" Ted asked seeing how stressed out Chuck was. This was something he could not afford right now. He needed him calm and ready to work. He had agents coming to LA from all over the country and he couldn't have Chuck agitated right now.

"I need to get her to Chicago as soon as I can." Chuck said.

"I can have a jet sitting on a runway in ten minutes." Ted said pulling out his phone.

"Really? You don't have to do all that Ted. I'm sure we can book her a flight out." Chuck said.

"Don't be crazy Chuck. You're my top priority. That extends to her as well. I can get her to Chicago in a few hours. I'll have a car waiting for her to use and we can have the best doctors look her dad over." He said.

"I'd hold off on that last one. You don't want unanswerable questions after all. Questions like how did she afford the best heart doctors in the country? Lets get her to Chicago first and we can go from there." Chuck said patting Ted on the shoulder.

"Good thinking Chuck." He said making a phone call.

Melissa came out with Jordan. She was still softly crying. She latched on to him as soon as she saw him. "Ted is going to have a private jet take you to Chicago. Hopefully your dad will get through this." He said.

"You can't come with me?" She asked.

"I'm needed here. We are so close to cracking this thing. We have a big download on Saturday. I need to make the last few adjustments. If I don't get this right I could hurt a lot of people." Chuck said holding her.

"I understand, but I would have really liked you to come with me." She said.

"I Wish I could, but I can't, I'm needed here. Maybe after Saturday I can fly out and meet your folks." He said rubbing her back.

"I'd like that Chuck." She said kissing him.

"I have a jet sitting on the runway, and a car waiting at Midway airport. My driver can take you to the airfield right now." Ted said waving them over to his BMW 745i.

"I can't take your car Ted." She said.

"Nonsense. Jordan can take me in her car, or Chuck can take us." He said handing her into the car.

"Thank you so much Ted." She said. Chuck tossed the suitcase into the trunk.

"See you in a week." Chuck said kissing her one more time.

"I love you Chuck." She said.

"I love you too Angel." He said before shutting the door. When the car was gone Chuck turned to Ted. "Thank you Ted. I owe you big time for this. Let me grab a quick shower and change and I can take you to work. I want to check on my office computer anyways." Chuck said smirking.

"Good idea. We'll wait in the lobby." Ted said.

"I'll be back in fifteen." Chuck said grabbing his bag with his clothes without them seeing the two bags full of tactical gear and guns. Fifteen minutes later Chuck was back down in the lobby dressed in a black three piece suit and his computer bag. He was also carrying a black duffle bag.

"Carrying a lot today Chuck?" Ted said.

"It's a tool kit I put together." Chuck said reaching into the bag and pulling out a kit with small screwdrivers and a drill. "I'm going to take a look at the auditorium today and see what I need to make this all work for the download. I bought some tools incase I have to make any modifications to the equipment." Chuck said tossing the bag into the trunk.

"You didn't need to buy tools, I'm sure we have those at RI." Ted said getting into the back seat.

"I know but I'm a bit of a neat freak and I'm picky when it comes to things like that. I'm going to be working on computers that will house the Intersect. I don't want anything messing with those. One wrong step. One wrong calibration and I could cook a bunch of agent's brains. For the sake of being overly careful I'll use my own tools." Chuck said getting behind the wheel.

"I see your point. Better safe then sorry." Ted said nodding.

"It's my mantra for this whole thing. Now following that same mantra I'm going to book it to RI. This car isn't armored like your car so the faster we make it to RI the better. Buckle up Ted this is going to be fun." Chuck said revving the engine a few times before dropping the M5 into gear and punching it out of the driveway.

They came screaming into the parking garage. Chuck drifted up to the top floor and screeched to a stop next to Ted's parking spot. Chuck and Jordan hopped out all smiles but it took Ted a few seconds to get his heart to slow down and his legs to work. Chuck used his disorientation to grabbed his computer bag and the two duffle bags full of guns. Ted never noticed the two bags, even when they were standing in the elevator.

At noon Chuck came up to Ted's office and stopped at Jordan's desk. "Is the boss busy? I need to talk to him." He said.

"He's free." She said rolling her eyes.

"Good, can you have these things brought to the hallway outside my office. It looks like I'm going to have to do some work to the auditorium after all." He said handing her a few sheets of paper.

"Sure thing Chuck." She said looking over the pages. She saw a list of computers and parts on the first page and the next two pages were a detailed account of what happened over the weekend, including the new development of Scott and Anna. When she read that her eyes narrowed. "I might come down there to talk to you in a few hour to see if you need anything else." She said curtly.

"I thought you might. How about we do a late lunch in about an hour?" He said looking at his watch.

"Sounds good to me. I'll bring you something for the cafeteria." She said.

"You're the best Jordan." Chuck said touching her hand as he walked by her desk.

Chuck walked into Ted's office and plopped down on the couch. "Well I'm glad I looked over the system in the auditorium. I need to add a bunch of stuff to the system in the booth and I'm going to end up daisy chaining a bunch of computer towers together to run the Intersect off of. We want to spread the work load over a few motherboards so we don't blow the system." Chuck said.

"Whatever you think we need to do, do it." Ted said.

"I figured as much so I have Jordan gathering all the things I need. I'll start modifying the computers in my office today and I should have it all in place by this time tomorrow. I'll start moving the files I need for the core program onto the system the day after and I'll have the whole thing ready for a test run by Thursday. I think we should do the test run on Jordan Thursday. I'll turn the speed down and see if she makes it out alive. She'll probably have to stay with me for a few days after that. I want to monitor her for any signs of brain damage, or stress." Chuck said.

"Why Jordan?" Ted asked.

"Well I was going to use Melissa but with her gone I need another test subject I can work with. She has NSA stress training and is the most physically fit person I know. If she can't handle the stress of a download then how are the other agents going to fare? Plus I've observed her behavior and I know how she acts so I can detect any changes in her better then anyone else." Chuck said.

"But she should make it out of this right?" Ted asked looking a bit worried.

"She should. I can tell you that stress on the heart and brain are the leading cause of subject death. I would leave her alone for the next few days. Maybe even let her stay with me for the week. I can keep her calm and relaxed. Warm baths, massages, wine, cuddling. You know the CIA romance training. It's the shit I've been using on Melissa. How do you think I turned an airhead NSA hooker into a well oiled assistant? I've cultivated that relationship from the second I met her. Yesterday I could have gotten her to turn in her own mother to Fulcrum. With the health scare her father is going through it fucked up all of my programming. It's why I had to play the sympatric boyfriend earlier. You think I really want to meet her folks? After this is all done I think I'll take Kate or Sam on as an assistant and send Melissa back to her old job. I can't have the bitch so clingy. Next thing you know she'll start getting jealous of the other women I fuck and I can't have that." Chuck said making a face.

"I see. I never knew you could do that. I never even thought about the way she acted around you. Can you teach me how to do that sort of thing?" Ted asked.

"I'm sure I could. They taught me how to do it, and I was a loser computer geek before I learned." Chuck said shrugging.

"Alright then lets do this. I'll tell her she has to keep you happy this week leading up to the big download." Ted said.

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you around Ted. I have to go back to work. I've got a lot of shit to do and not a lot of time. Jordan can keep working with you during the day but I'll take her home at night and give her the Carmichael treatment. Hopefully you'll have a supper assistant by the weekend." Chuck said smirking a very dirty smirk before he walked out. As soon as he crossed the threshold and the door shut he let the smile fall off his face and he shook his head. He really wanted to kill that guy. He was going to take pleasure in extracting every bit of information out of him.

An hour later Jordan knocked on Chuck's door. Chuck answered it and smiled when he saw her standing there holding a big sandwich. "You're a Godsend. I'm starving." He said taking the sandwich and waving her into the office. Chuck cleared a bunch of computer parts off his desk and the second chair. "Have a seat. As you can see I've been busy." He said waving at the piles of computer guts.

"Yeah I see that. What's with all the parts?" she asked pulling a salad out of her bag.

"Roark is many things but stupid is not one of them. He's seen my lab. He's even tried to hack into my system and figure out what I'm doing. Without my laptop he can't see shit, all he sees is the monitors with gibberish on them. It would take him and a team of computer nerds a few weeks to figure out they mean nothing. He might not know all of that but he knows what each one of those computers can do. So I have to build a system with the equivalent computing power output so he believes it will work on Saturday. Really I'm taking the six towers you got for me apart. Stripping them of their guts, putting flashing lights and fans in them to make them look like custom gaming PC's, and sticking all of the tactical gear we need for the raid inside of them." Chuck said pulling an MP5K out of the bag and putting it on the desk next to the empty computer tower.

"Won't he think to look inside the tower?" She asked.

"No he won't. He can't take any chances by fucking with the system. He knows that one wrong step and it could mean the death of all of his good agents. Every time I talk to him I keep telling him that and by now it's imbedded deep in his brain. It's also one of the reasons he's going to let you sleep in my apartment for the week and take it easy on you. He thinks you're my test subject. The key to making sure I don't fry his guys. So no more servicing him. Your days of being under his thumb are over." Chuck said going back to his sandwich.

"Are you serious?" She asked looking like she was going to cry.

"I am. You'll be spending more time with me over the week, and you'll be living with me. You'll leave with me this after noon and tonight I want you to pack a bag, you're going to be staying in my apartment. You will still go into work with Roark. But if at any time he gets on your nerves or he gets too handsy come down here. I told him the best chance you have of making it out alive was to be calm and relaxed. Today or tomorrow we will stop by Castle and get you uploaded. On Thursday we will spend most of the day in the auditorium. We'll head back to the apartment at around one or two in the afternoon. You'll take Friday off to 'rest'. That evening you will prove you have the information Intersect in your head by flashing a few times. You'll fake fatigue and we will call it a night early. Saturday is the big day. We'll stage the upload at 10 AM when the rest of the teams will start their raids. By 10:15 AM the agents will be fried and Roark will be bound, gagged, and hidden under the stage in the Auditorium. Then we'll gear up and take out the guards I want to hand off to an NSA clean up crew and head back to Castle to monitor the other teams by noon." Chuck said.

"Wow you really have this whole thing mapped out." Jordan said looking shocked.

"What do you mean?" Chuck asked looking up at her.

"You have this all planed out to the minute. You're like an evil genius." She said.

Chuck started laughing. "That's what Sarah and Melissa say. I don't know if I should start taking offence to it." Chuck said smirking.

"I'm not sure. I can say that if you ever went into a life of crime you'd be unstoppable." She said laughing.

"Yes well, most of the things I've done in the past three weeks have not been legal." Chuck said.

"True."

"Now lets get down to it and cut the bullshit. What do you want to know about Anna, and her relationship with your son?" Chuck said smiling.

"I only want to know one thing, is she good enough for Scott?" Jordan asked looking down at her fork.

"That's a loaded question because there are so many ways to answer that. Is she good enough for a geeky good guy like Scott? Yes. Is she good enough for your son? Maybe. I think you are always going to be the harshest critic of the woman Scott is with. I can tell you that she's a Red child. The last one left actually. She's a stone cold killer and a master of interrogation. I can also tell you she was abused by her handler when she was a child and he was probably not the only one. You know the stories of those children. I can tell you that until two days ago she never felt anything for a boy. I can tell you that she has locked on to Scott like a drowning woman to a life vest. I can tell you that she's beautiful, loyal, and desperate for a boy like Scott. She is very damaged and in need of a lot of work but she has my stamp of approval and she's as dedicated as they come. Is she good enough for Scott? Yes she is." Chuck said.

Jordan looked shocked for a few seconds before smiling. "Okay. That's all I wanted to know." She said laughing. "Wow Chuck that was a lot of… I don't know what, but it was a lot." She said.

"Yeah I know. For the past few days I've been doing a lot of what the great cappen' Reynolds would call Speech-a-fyin'. I think it comes with being the brains of the operation." Chuck said finishing the last of his sandwich.

"I guess so. What are we doing later tonight?" She asked.

"Well I was think that maybe we could stay in tonight and watch some old movies and cuddle up on the couch. Maybe drink some good wine and share a cheese plate?" Chuck said going back to his work on the PC tower.

"What movie did you have in mind?" She asked smiling. He did know how to treat a lady she thought.

"I've downloaded a few Audrey Hepburn films because I know she's your favorite. I also have a few rom-coms we can watch. I figure we'll be spending a lot of nights this week in the apartment. I know you like to stay in so I've planed with that in mind." Chuck said pulling the mag out of the MP5K and stuck the gun, the mag, and a big silencer inside the computer tower. He took two hard drives wrapped them in a wiring harness and stuck it in the tower as well. He put the side cover plate back in place and flipped the tower back upright. "Now lets see if this works." He muttered pulling the cover release bar in the back and the side plate fell open and the gun flopped out. He nodded and put it back together. Now he only needed to make four more.

"Where did you come up with this?" She asked smiling. He was a lot like her son when he wasn't playing the Carmichael hard ass.

"I've been working on PC towers for years. Customers bring them in with all kinds of stuff stuck inside. On time we found a huge rat nest. Another time we found a whole colony of ants. But this idea came from an old lady. She brought in her small PC complaining it couldn't go on the internets anymore. Her words, not mine. So we take it apart and we find a huge brick of white powder and a glock17. Apparently her gang banger son hid all of his illegal contraband in it before the cops took him away. Since then me and Morgan have talked about building one of these to hide really cool shit at the Buy More." Chuck said ripping the guts out of another tower.

Jordan stood up to leave. "Wait, before you go, you should check your gear. See if it all fits and is up to your standards. We have a week to fix it if it's not. You don't want to run in to any issues the day of." Chuck said holding up a black bag.

"Sure Chuck, what do you have packed for me?" She asked.

"Tactical vest, extra Sig229, MP5K, and a few extra mags for each as well as suppressors. I have the same set up. I also added a tranq. gun and a few mags for it just in case we have to take someone down without killing them. I wouldn't worry about it too much, I've seen the list of men he pulled to run security that day and the world would be a better place without any of them. It reads like a dishonorable discharge file. All of them are bad news." Chuck said.

"How many are on the list?" She asked.

"Thirty." Chuck said with his head inside the tower he was working on.

"Thirty! That's a lot Chuck. Are we going to be able to handle that many by ourselves? Can't we call for back up?" She asked adjusting the straps on her vest.

"I did, you're my back up." Chuck said looking up at her.

"And you can take out thirty guys?" She asked.

"I can. Three days ago I took out four in a firefight in a matter of seconds. I don't think this is going to be all that hard. They will be stationed around the building to cover the exits, the lobby, and the auditorium doors. We have the element of surprise and by Saturday the ability to be total killing machines. The hardest part will be to take out the guards in the lobby so we will save them for last. We'll take out the guy guarding the second floor balcony and toss a few flash bangs over the railing. They'll be gone before they even know what hit them." Chuck said holding up two flash bang grenades.

"Wow Chuck, that was as well thought out as everything else you do." She said looking excited and a little bit turned on.

She always had a thing for two types of men. Ones that could get the job done, and ones that could plan something like this. Chuck, it seamed, fell into both of those categories. She was never one for having a 'Man' nor was she ever going to be a kept woman, but sitting across from Chuck and watching him both plan out the mission and handle an assault weapon she could see the allure of it all. She could really see what Walker, Barns, and Brown were so taken by. He even had Glass hot and bothered. She would never go with Chuck, or try to push for sex, that was a moment of weakness the time she asked for it, but she thought about how it would be to climb into bed with him every night for more then just sleeping and some cuddling. A shiver ran up her spine and she blushed as she felt her body respond. Ditching the vest and the gun on the desk she turned to the door to ovoid looking Chuck in the eye. "They're good to go. What time are we heading back to the Tower?" She asked walking to the door.

"Around five. I'll be done by then." Chuck said looking up.

"I'll meet you in the lobby at five then." She said walking out of his office.

"Huh, I wonder if I said something wrong? She left rather fast." Chuck muttered to himself before shrugging and going back to work.


	27. Chapter 27

The rest of the week flew by in a blink of an eye. Tuesday they went out to a restraint, or their phones did. Jordan really spent the night getting an Intersect download.

Wednesday Chuck spent most of the day in the auditorium working on the system/setting up the gear and checking sight lines.

Thursday they faked an Intersect download with Jordan and went home early.

Friday Chuck spent most of his day walking around the building and making mental notes. Things like sightlines around corners, the time it took for the elevator to make a trip from the top floor to the ground floor, and the bounciness of the carpet in the lobby.

That night he and Jordan came up to Roark's penthouse. Jordan acted a bit sluggish and tired. They sat across from Ted on the couch. "How did it go? Any brain damage?" Ted asked looking at the two.

"None that I can detect." Chuck said smiling.

"I don't think anything's wrong with me." Jordan said.

"Good. I don't want anything to happen to you Jordan." Ted said looking for the first time like a man that cared for someone other then himself.

"I told you I'd return her to you unharmed." Chuck said.

"You did, and you've never lied to me Chuck. You've delivered on every promise." Ted said.

"Well, lets not start blowing each other just yet. We still need to test it out. Do you have the things I asked you to get?" Chuck asked.

"I do." Ted said holding up a file.

"Good lets start with facial recognition." Chuck said waving his hand at the file.

Ted pulled out a picture of a man and held it up. Almost immediately Jordan's eyes rolled back and her head gave a little shake. "Tomas Acherly. 43 years old. Member of the CIA counter Fulcrum unit. Also a Fulcrum agent. He works out of the D.C. office located in an office building on the corner of 8th and K street." Jordan said robotically.

"My God it works!" Ted said excitedly.

"Of course it does. Now lets move on to voice command." Chuck said.

"Right. I got excited for a second there." Ted said smirking. He pulled out a second page and read the name, "Brian Goldman."

"Brian Goldman, age 29. NSA annalist and fulcrum mole. Currently he is working out of the Chicago office located in the Loop." Jordan said.

"And do you know what he looks like?" Ted asked laying out three pictures.

"Yes, he's the one on the left." She said pointing out the right man.

"Alright, now for the hard one. Reading a name." Chuck said.

Ted looked at a page and held it up. "David Fulbright."

"David Fulbright, 26 years old. CIA annalist and Fulcrum NOC. He works out of an intel pit at LAngely, and his current mission for us is to watch Sam's sister Roberta Glass." She said slumping into Chuck's side.

"I think we should call it a night Ted. She's looking a bit pale. Over time she will be more useful but right now I think she needs to lie down. I'd like to keep her for another night to monitor her after this test to see if there is any damage." Chuck said standing up and picking the large woman up. "I'll see you tomorrow Ted. It's a big day. Make sure you get some sleep." Chuck said smirking.

"You too Chuck! This was great." He said walking them to the elevator. Chuck carried her into the apartment and once he shut the door she hopped out of his arms and hugged him.

"I can't believe that worked so well." She said.

"I know how to play him." Chuck said sitting on the couch.

"Well now we have the rest of the night to ourselves, what are we going to do?" Jordan asked plopping down next to Chuck.

"I'd like to get to bed early tonight. I want to be at RI by eight tomorrow." Chuck said.

"So I guess that means no working out tomorrow?" She asked smirking.

"I'd save your energy. We could be called in to help somewhere. Since we have the easiest mission we are the west coast back up. If Morgan and Anna, or Carina, or the Vegas tactical teams call for help we are jumping into my car and blasting to a CIA Black Jet waiting at a private runway. We are the last resort if one of them goes down. Alex and Major Snow are the same thing for the East coast. Alex has a Blackhawk on stand-by and the Major has a Black Jet. And if anything happens to one of the back ups then Jenifer Daily is everyone's back up. She will have the B1 Lancer gassed and her flight crew sitting in the jump seats waiting for a location. In that B1 she can be anywhere in the country in two hours or less." Chuck said.

"There you go making speeches again." She said smiling.

"I just can't help it I guess." Chuck said.

For the rest of the night they sat on the couch watching old movies and drinking very expensive wine. At the end of the night Jordan got into bed while Chuck was in the bathroom. When he came out he looked deep in thought. He walked to the closet and shifted through his suits. At the back of the closet he found what he was looking for. Sill in the dry cleaning bag. Black, and two buttons. He had a lot of black suits, but this one was special. In this suit Chuck seduced an NSA seductress, shot his partner, threatened the head of Fulcrum and conned his way into a rogue intelligence agency. To this day he didn't know if it was his skills and his charms, or this suit. Chuck wasn't what you would call a superstitious man, but so far this suit had got him undercover and now it was going to get him through tomorrow. After that he didn't know when he was going to need it, but he knew it was going into a vault. Clark Kent had the blue and red, Bruce Wayne had the bat suit. Carmichael had this black suit.

"Chuck what are you doing? Come to bed, we have an early start tomorrow." She said.

"I'm contemplating the end of Carmichael. He won't be needed after tomorrow. I won't need to wear the suit, or carry the gun. I can go back to my comfortable shoes and stress free life of not being an undercover field agent." Chuck said sadly as he pulled out a clean white shirt and hung it next to the suit.

"Why do you say that Chuck?" Jordan asked getting out of bed.

"Just look at what happened the second I went on this mission. Sarah and I fight over everything, and she lost the ability to do her job. Carmichael has brought me a lot of things. Confidence, respect, and power. Things I've never had before. Chuck had to work his ass off to get Sarah to even look at him, but Carmichael has beautiful women throwing themselves at him. Carmichael is my Batman, Superman, Spiderman. After tomorrow I'll hang up the suit and go back to being Clark Kent. Nerdy, and weak, and un-cool. It's the only way I get to keep Louis Lane." Chuck said sadly as he pulled out his red tie.

"Chuck, just because you have to go back to being normal doesn't mean you have to stop being Carmichael. We take orders from you Chuck. We have since you turned us two weeks ago. I wear the angel Chuck, not out of a sense of fun or as a joke but because I belong to a team. A team under your leadership. Not Walker or anyone else." Jordan said holding up her gold angel pendent.

"And that's the problem right there. I can't run the team. If I do then I'll just keep getting into fights with my wife. I'm going to hang it all up and work on rebuilding RI. It's what I'm good at. I'm not needed out in the field after tomorrow. Not when everyone has the same thing I do in my head. You guys don't need me anymore. You have good leaders in Sarah and Casey. My time would be better spent working on Prometheus, and running intel from the big office at RI. After we're done tomorrow I can go back to being just Chuck. Submissive computer geek. Support staff to my wife and team. It's better this way." Chuck said brushing nonexistent dust off the black suit.

"Better for who Chuck? For you? For us? For your team? Do you think Walker wants you to go back to being a weakling?" She asked.

"I know she does. My taking over fucked up her game. She couldn't shoot straight, drive a car, or throw a knife. I broke her and the only way I fixed her was going back to being me." Chuck said looking sad.

"You? Is it even you anymore Chuck? When you went back to being old Chuck how did you feel? Did you like it? Did it fit you anymore? Did your clothes fit right? Did your shoulders ache from being hunched over? Did your face hurt from having to smile your old weak smile? How was it to walk a mile in your old shoes Chuck? Was it fun for you?" Jordan asked with a knowing look in her eyes.

"It was fine. It was like putting on an old pair of jeans. It was comfortable." Chuck said without meeting her eyes.

"Are you lying to me or yourself Chuck?" Jordan asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about Jordan. I'm tired. Lets go to bed." Chuck said turning to the bed.

"We will but I want you to do me a favor. I want you to relax your face and body." Jordan said dimming the lights. "Close your eyes and clear your mind. Focus on nothing but the sound of my voice." Jordan said taking his hand and walking him a few feet over before letting go. "Chuck, when I tell you to, I want you to open your eyes. Okay?" She asked Chuck nodded. "Open your eyes." She said softly.

Chuck opened his eyes and found himself facing the big mirror on the bathroom wall from the doorway. The lights in the bathroom were dimmed to just a soft glow. Chuck looked at the mirror and saw Carmichael looking back at him. He stood tall and straight. His face was a blank mask of calm and his eyes were blank. Chuck walked closer to the mirror and saw the subtle hints of Chuck under the surface, like his arched eyebrow, and the corners of his mouth resting in a small smile. Aside from that he could hardly recognize himself.

"What do you see?" She asked softly.

"Carmichael." Chuck said feeling a mix of emotions he didn't understand.

"How did you feel on your date with Walker? Did the shoes fit as well as you thought they would? As well as they did three weeks ago?" She asked coming up behind him.

"No, they didn't. The clothes were scratchy and cheap. The shoes were lose and the lack of a gun in the back made me feel vulnerable." Chuck said as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes.

"Chuck do you remember the last time you were the man you clamed to still be? The last time you were entirely Chuck?" She asked.

"I can't. I don't remember the last time I felt like just Chuck." He said unable to look himself in the eyes and also unable to look away from the man in the mirror.

"Chuck, I can tell you things. Bullshit about how doing the job has no effect on us. How we wall off ourselves and form a cover personality to do the things we never thought we could do. I can lie and tell you that the person you were before this all started is in there somewhere but the bus to agent-vill is one way and the man you were before is just a shadow in the rear view mirror. Sure there are still fragments of Just Chuck in there. The smile you use when Walker is around. The way you touch us Angels when we need you to hold us. The cute shrug you do when you're given a complement by someone you respect. The gentleness in your voice when you show love and comfort. The love you have for your wife. Those are all you, but the way you carry yourself. The way you look. The natural expression on your face, and the clothes you are comfortable in. That's the new you. The agent. Charles Carmichael. That's you from now on, and you know it. Deep down you know you can never go back to being the old Chuck. Carmichael will never allow it. So you can say you're hanging up the suit all you want Chuck but you can never go back to being subservient to Walker. It will never work out. The inner you will always balk at an order given by her. Because deep down you are trying to hide the man that planed this mission and all of the small working parts of your mind that tell you, you could do it better then her. Now you can stand there and deny me all you want but you know I'm right. I don't know about you and Walker, I don't know what's going to happen to the two of you. You two might fight until you two split up, or you might sit down and work it all out. You might come to an agreement where you stay here and Walker travels the world doing missions, but I can tell you this right now. You will never be just the house husband waiting for your wife to come home. You'll be running things from now on, because we are unwilling to take orders from the Enforcer. We work for you. If you don't give the orders we don't move." Jordan said slipping into bed

"But Sarah can separate the job and us. She still has a big chunk of just Sarah under the agent persona." Chuck argued weakly.

"And who is Sarah Walker Chuck? Who is she? Is she the girl she was before she took her first mission? Is Sarah her real name? Do you know her real name? Do you call her by it? Did you fall in love with the real her? Or did you fall for the Agent Sarah Walker? I can tell you now that the woman you see before you is not the same woman that signed up to be an NSA agent. Her Name was Sally Harrison. She was born in East Texas to a law man and a house wife. She was married once. When she was too young to know it was with the wrong man, but that's what you did in East Texas when you get knocked up. It didn't matter that he was an abusive asshole. Of course it's no point in staying married if he beat you so bad you lost the baby. Not much point at all after that. And when you shoot that man in self defense in East Texas things don't even go to a trial. Your daddy just covers the whole thing up. But now you're faced with a new dilemma. You're a seventeen year old girl that has no education because you drooped out of school. You're not welcomed in you momma's house even though your daddy wants you home. You've killed a man and you felt nothing when you did it. Then you see the sign in the store front. Army recruitment. You say why the hell not? You played sports in school. You're athletic. You're a killer now and your church turned their back on you." Jordan said coldly.

Chuck tried to put his hand on her shoulder but she brushed him away. "No, you have to hear this." She said turning away from him. "So you join the Army and you find out you have a talent for killing. From that you're recruited to the NSA and you're given a new name. You cling to that new name like a lifeboat. You forget about the past and you live each day like it's your last. You do this for a long time until one day you feel sick. You can't figure out why. You see a doctor and find out your pregnant. You don't know how to feel at first. You're life is going so good right now, and a baby will just ruin it all. But a part of you, that small part that's still from East Texas. That's still a good Christian. Knows it's a sin to not have it. And that same girl from Texas wants this baby. So you have it. Take time off to raise it a little bit. You feel nostalgic so you even look up the momma and daddy that didn't want you around no more. You find out that your momma died of cancer and your daddy got shot down in the line of duty. You find out they're dead and you didn't even get to say goodbye. You contemplate life and ask yourself if it's worth living. You think about dark things. About not going on any more but then you hear a cry from the other room. The baby's up and he needs you. So you live everyday for him and one day the NSA calls and says they need you. So you hire the best Nanny money can buy and you go back to work. Life goes on and you adapt to live it. You put away the girl from East Texas. You have nothing in common with her anyways. You forget about where you came from and only think about where you are now. You give up on ever having a family and you put all of your efforts into making sure your son grows up to be a man you can be proud of. You forget about Sally and become Jordan Rodgers. You realize you can never be that girl again because she was weak and sad and nothing like the woman you are now." She said looking up at him and he saw the woman he knew to be Jordan Rodgers. Strong, tall and wise.

"My wise Angel." Chuck said without thinking.

"That's right, and this Angel only takes orders form Charlie so you better reach down deep and find the man I respect enough to take orders from. Now I'm going to bed. You can come to bed when you have your head all sorted out. Find the man you were and the man you are now in that big brain of yours and figure out which one you like more." Jordan said kissing him on the cheek before turning away and putting her head down on the pillow.

Chuck stood there looking at the man in the mirror for a long time after she walked away. He kept thinking about the things she said.

Was Chuck really gone?

Was he Carmichael now?

Did he mined?

Did he like it more then he first thought he did?

Was being the man with all of the answers more addictive then he first thought?

And what about Sarah? Was it right for her to ask him to love Sarah Walker when she couldn't love Carmichael?

Was it fare?

If he met her before she was Sarah walker would he still find her as attractive as she was to him now?

Was it right for him to ask her to love the new him?

Were they ever going to get over this and get back to where they were before this all started?

Did he want them to?

Did he like Carmichael more then he did his wife?

Chuck didn't know. All he knew was that Jordan was right, in the end he ran the team and the Enforcer was going to have to learn to live with it. Because he loved his wife very much, but he couldn't live a lie forever. At this point being Carmichael wasn't a choice it was who he was now. Chuck shut off the lights and slipped into bed next to Jordan. She rolled over and cuddled up to him. "Made up your mind?" She muttered.

"My name is Charles Carmichael. I run a highly trained team of agents called Angels. I find the targets, I plan the missions and I give the orders. And if the Enforcer has a problem with it she can take it up with me." Chuck said.

"Maybe that's your problem. The Enforcer isn't your wife. The Enforcer is who your wife has to be when the chips are down and she has to be a bad ass. You don't love the Enforcer. You love Sarah Walker, spy. I think we have to figure out who Carmichael is. Maybe he has two sides as well, and maybe it's one of his sides that Walker is having a problem with." Jordan said holding him.

"I know Carmichael has more then one side." Chuck said. "There's this guy right now. It's me, but not me. It's the guy I still thought was Chuck. Then there's the guy that's a natural flirt, he loves the ladies and can get any one he want's. he's smooth, and sexy, and cool. Then there's the killer. Cold and calculating." Chuck said.

"Alright. Lets name them and figure out who she doesn't like." Jordan said.

"Regular guy can be called Chuck. Because it's who I am." Chuck said.

"And Cool Chuck can be Carmichael, because that's who he is. Charles Carmichael is a womanizer." Jordan said smirking.

"He is. And the stone cold killer is Mad Dog Carmichael." Chuck said smiling.

"Mad Dog?" Jordan asked.

"Long story. I'll tell you later." Chuck said.

"Right. Now when you get into a fight with Walker who are you?" She asked.

Chuck thought about that question. When they fought in the last thee weeks it was mostly because he was being Carmichael. "Carmichael, it's almost always been Carmichael." Chuck said.

"And why do you think that is Chuck? Why does Carmichael bring out the fight in Walker?" Jordan asked with a knowing smile on her lips.

"Because… Because , I don't know?" Chuck said slumping over.

"Okay lets do this another way. Be Carmichael right now Chuck." Jordan said.

Chuck slipped his arm around her and pulled her into him closer. He let his hand rest on her stomach just below her breasts. His eyes gained a wolfish glint to them and his smile turned from sweet to sexy. "You asked for me?" Chuck asked getting close to her ear.

"I did Chuck. Can you tell me what makes you Carmichael? What you use him for? What you act like when you're like this." She asked feeling her pulse quicken.

"I bring him out to play when I need to get something. When I need to talk my way into somewhere. Weather that place is a physical one like a room or a meeting. Or if it's a metaphorical place, like a woman's head." Chuck said slipping his other hand over her thigh and across the front of her red lace panties making her moan. "I use him to get what I want, when I want it because he's a predator. He doesn't ask for things." Chuck said kissing her earlobe as he rubbed the rough lace of her thong across her clit making her pant. "He takes them." He said sliding his other hand under her shirt to cup her right breast. "He's a man. Not a little boy. He's been with women all over the globe. He's fucked Parisian prostitutes and Persian Royalty. He knows how people think and he uses that knowledge to get the job done. He acts like I want to act, he talks like a want to talk and he fucks like I want to fuck." Chuck said biting her neck, twisting her nipple and cupping her sex roughly all at the same time sending her over the edge in a powerful orgasm. "Shhhhh. I got you. Did you like that? Did you like being touched by a man? Did you like cuming like a bitch in heat? Tell me you liked it?" Chuck said in a deep hypnotic voce that did things to Jordan's body she didn't even think could happen anymore at her age. "You asked me what I use Carmichael for? That's what I use him for. I use him to use other people. I use him to turn a powerful NSA deep cover operative into a panting teenaged girl that's begging for me to take her. She's willing to do anything right now. Give me anything, tell me anything. All for some more of what I just gave her." Chuck said in a commanding voice.

"And that's what gets to her. It's what triggers her fight reflex. Because she's Sarah Walker. Stone cold killer and powerful woman. She's afraid of what Carmichael will do to her. Afraid that he can turn her into a teenaged girl again. That he can strip away everything that makes her Sarah Walker. So when you use that voice. When you give her that look. When you touch her like you just did me it triggers her panic button and calls up the Enforcer, and I can tell you now the Enforcer will not suffer any foolishness from Carmichael." Jordan said purring in contentment.

Chuck sat up in bed and thought about what just happened, and what she said. He didn't feel any remorse for the things he did to Jordan. She was asking for Carmichael and she got what she was asking for, and by the way she was still humming she liked every second of it. He reached down and felt he was not excited in the least. That's when he knew why he didn't feel any remorse for what he just did with Jordan. Because Chuck didn't do those things, he didn't say those things. Carmichael did, and he took no pleasure in it. It was an exercise in using a woman. Finding her weak spot and pushing on it until she cracked. He didn't think it was cheating, and if Sarah told him she had got a mark excited and jerked him off he didn't think it would effect him the least bit at this point because he knew it meant nothing to her. It was a chore. A necessary task that was anything but fun for her.

And that was how agents thought. It was how agents acted. It was how Chuck would think and act from now on. If Sarah had a problem with that then she was not the woman he thought she was. Then a thought occurred to him. He was thinking like Carmichael. Thinking about what an agent should do and not what Chuck would do, there where two Chuck's now. Old Chuck and new Chuck. Old Chuck would have been violently sick at what he just did with Jordan. He would have cried himself to sleep thinking about Sarah would say. New Chuck would feel bad but not that bad. He'd tell Sarah what happened and explain it was spur of the moment. That he wasn't thinking straight. Carmichael liked it and Mad Dog didn't care. But the two sides of the Chuck coin where the reason he was having an existential crisis the night before the biggest day of his life.

"Jordan, do all field agents go through this crazy stage where they realize they have split personalities?" Chuck asked.

"We do, and it's not split personalities. It's a way for us to function. Every agent has levels of… darkness lets call it. On the surface we are the people we introduce ourselves as. NSA agent Jordan Rodgers, and CIA agent Charles Carmichael. It's our cover, our title and who we are when we are our selves. You understand what I'm saying?" She asked sitting up in bed.

"So us right now? Just us. That's the surface?" Chuck asked.

"Yes. This is the us we introduce to people. The person we want to be. They are good, nice people. They have friends and family, and pay their taxes and look normal to their neighbors. You ever see the news when they interview the neighbors of a crazy killer. 'he seamed so nice and normal. Always said hi to me when I saw him around the neighborhood.' That's level one shit. Then there's the next level of darkness. The agent skill set that you have. My skill set like most NSA agents is infiltration and assassination and retrieval. Your skill set like most CIA agents is seduction, manipulation, intelligence gathering, and assassination. Your skill set has a persona all to itself. Yours is Carmichael, mine is not that different then the way I am normally. The mindset that you fall into when you did what you just did to me was Carmichael. If you were on a mission you would approach your target with the smooth cool lines that you use to get them to talk to you. When a mark is brought in for questioning and they describe the agent that talked them into custody, that's your agent personality. Now deep down you have the ability to turn off your emotions and do things most people would lose their lunch doing. Killing, torture, and selling out a asset to get what you want. Those kinds of things come with a mind set all their own. For you it's Mad Dog. For me it's Major Rodgers. I always fall back on my military training. The point of having the different layers is so you don't let spy world get in the way of home life." Jordan said.

"And in my relationship with Sarah she hate's my second level." Chuck said.

"Right. Just like I'm guessing you don't like her dark side." Jordan said.

"I don't hate it per-say but I tolerate it. The Enforcer has always been the Bain of my existence." Chuck said.

"Well let's get through tomorrow and then you two can talk about the parts of the other person's darkness you don't like about each other. Maybe then you two can have a regular marriage." Jordan said pulling him back into bed.


	28. Chapter 28

Time: 0530 Location: CIA apartment building, Langley Park, MD

Bobby walked out of her front door and saw a black SUV with tinted windows waiting for her out front. Casey got out and opened the back door for her. "I was told to ask you for the time." She said holding the small snub nosed .38 in her handbag.

"12:24" Casey said.

Bobby took her hand out of her bag and smiled. "Hi, you must be Major Casey." She said holding out her hand.

"I am. Just call me Casey. It looks like we'll be spending the day together. We were supposed to pick up a friend of yours?" He asked handing her into the tall SUV.

"Yes he lives one block over, middle of the street." She said.

"After we pick him up we have to get walker and then I think we should get breakfast. I'm thinking pancakes." Casey said.

"Where is Agent Walker?" Bobby asked.

"She's taking care of a problem." Casey said smirking.

Ron Pierson strapped on his Sig229 and fed the wire for his radio through the sleeve of his suit jacket. The last thing he picked up off his dresser was his Secret Service shield. He shined it with his tie and clipped it to his belt. He looked over at his sleeping wife and smiled. Over the thirty years they had been married he didn't know if he got quitter in the morning or she became a heavier sleeper. He made his way downstairs and took his travel mug of coffee and his bag off the table by the door and walked out to his 300C. He got in and was just about to put the key in the ignition when he felt something cold press into the back of his head. "Do you know what pisses me off the most about you turning into a Fulcrum sleeper agent Ron? You didn't think I would find out." Sarah said coldly.

"Walker. I'm glad it's you." Ron said looking in the rearview mirror with a sad smile. "If it had to be someone I'm glad you took the assignment. One thing, make sure my wife doesn't find out what I did? She doesn't know anything, and she doesn't need to find out." He said calmly.

"You're not going to beg me not to kill you?" She asked.

"We both know that you don't let people go Walker." He said with a sad smile.

"No, I don't, but my boss has a few questions for you. So I'm going to let you live for now. You will head to Andrews Air Force Base. You will ask to see General Stanfield. You will surrender your weapon to me right now." She said holding out her left hand. Ron pulled his Sig out and passed it to her. "If you run. If you don't make it to Andrews in the next half hour. If you try to call this in to your other boss. I'll come back here and kill your wife. Then I'll track you down and kill you slowly for making me look bad. You know I will. Nod your head if you understand." She said and Ron nodded. "Good. You're lucky in a way Ron. The president wanted you dead. Major Casey said we should have killed both you and your wife and blown up your house to make it look like a gas leak. But My team leader said we should question you and let you live." Sarah said with a cold smile.

"I Understand." Ron said looking down at his hands.

"30 minutes. At 31 minutes I kill Calare, and you know she would let me in. We go way back after all." Sarah said slipping out of the back door. Sarah ghosted up to the black SUV five cars away and slipped into the front passenger seat. She turned to Bobby and Daniel as she put her gun away. "Hi, I'm Sarah Walker." She said.

"Bobby and this is Danny. We were promised pancakes?" She said shaking Sarah's hand.

"Yes lets eat. We have time. Our first target is set and the team is waiting for the go order which is not going to happen until 7:15 AM.

Time:0800 Location: Roark Tower, Los Angles CA

The alarm clock rang and Chuck shut it off without opening his eyes. He felt Jordan roll over and look at him. "Good morning Chuck. Did you sleep well?" She asked.

"No, I had a hard time sleeping until I saw my father again in my dream. He reminded me why I grew up with out him in my life and I slept like a baby after that, dreaming of the pain I'm going to inflict on Roark. The things I'm going to do to him when this day is over. I think I'm going to introduce him to Anna. I feel like Mad Dog has a lot to learn from her." Chuck said coldly.

"Good. I get the shower first." Jordan said hopping out of bed.

"I'll make some coffee." Chuck said rolling out of bed.

"You should also order us up a light breakfast. You're going to want something in your belly later during the mission." Jordan said walking into the bathroom.

Time:0900 Location: USC campus, Los Angles CA.

Scott's phone alarm went off and he popped up to shut it off but Anna picked it up off the dresser and tossed it to him. She was dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt. "That was the alarm I set for class." Scott said.

"I don't think we will be going to class today. You're going to be hanging out with me instead." She said pulling a Walther PPK/s and a silencer out of her big purse.

"What is that for?" Scott asked.

"Your room mate, if the drugs don't work. Go take a shower, and I'll go talk to him." She said tucking the gun into her back. "When you come back to the room put this on." She said tossing a pair of black jeans and a black shirt on the bed before going to the door. She cracked it open and looked out. The assassin's door was still closed. "Go ahead. We have to meet some friends in half an hour." She said waving him out of the room. Scott took his towel and walked to the bathroom without looking back. Anna walked to the assassin's door and smirked at the rusty hinges. It was an old Cold War trick, you scuff the brass hinges or put them in paint stripper if they were coated in anything, then you misted them with salt water to make rust. Rusty hinges squeaked. It was a very old trick, one taught to CIA agents on long deep cover ops. but one she knew to look for.

Scott's room mate used a lot of old methods to do things. Lose floor boards, rusty hinges, drilled holes in the wall to listen to your subject instead of recording equipment. She didn't know who trained this guy but they were old. She pulled a small tube of KY lube out of her pocket and applied a liberal amount to both hinges. Next she picked the lock. Standard tumbler, two false pins, another classic CIA trick. After another application of lube on the pins and the door knob collar she opened the door and slipped into the room. She saw he was still asleep on the bed. Which confirmed her last guess as to his training because he didn't know the taste of zolpidem tartrate one of the key ingredients in sleeping drugs, nor did he safeguard for it.

Padding to the bed with her bare feet she pulled out a yellow syringe and in one quick move she flipped the covers off his foot and injected the yellow fluid into his foot between his toes. The assassin shot up out of bed for a second before flopping right back down. Anna adjusted him back in the bed and flipped the blanket back over his head.

Sad really, she herself was taught by an old Cold War KGB man, but she knew she needed to learn the new way of how things worked. This assassin was lazy, and stupid. She knew if she hadn't killed him he would been taken out at some point. The lazy one's never lasted long in the assassination game. She then looked through the room for his gear. Under the bed she found a rifle case with a SR25 with an Acog scope and a box of ammo with mercury cores. More Cold War shit. No one used Mercury any more. It had a tendency to kill the person handling the ammunition more often then the target. If you wanted a confirmed kill they had high velocity armor piercing rounds that broke up like hollow points, they turned a man's insides into chunky pudding. In the bottom draw of his dresser she found a box with poisons, again they were old and easy to detect. At this point she had to wonder if this man's teacher wanted him to die she thought as she put it next to the rifle on the bed. She looked around the closet and found a big metal gun case on the floor behind an old blanket. Sloppy hiding place, the big air return vent behind the door would have been better. She picked the two locks which were like something you would find on cheap luggage and found a tray with ten razor sharp knives in different shapes and sizes ranging from pen knife to K-bar. Under the tray she found two glock19 with silencers, two STI tactical 2011s with red dot sights, and a Walther PPK/s with a silencer, but there was an empty spot. Looking around the room she went to the bed and slid her hand under the mattress and found the other PPK/s with the silencer. She walked back to the box and put the gun in it's place in the box and shook her head. It looks like we have a cowboy on our hands as well she thought. Akimbo firing two guns at the same time just lead to wasted ammo and an awkward reload. She also found six full mags for each gun and four small C4 door lock poppers. She turned around the put the box on the bed with the other things and saw Scott standing in the doorway looking shocked. "Go sit on the couch, I'll be out in a minute." She said softly.

"That was in here? All this time I was living with all that in the apartment?" Scott asked.

"Yes." She said taking his arm and walking out to the couch. "I need you to calm down Scott, your BP is up and you're starting to hyperventilate." She said pushing him down onto the couch and sitting on his lap. She took his hands and placed them on her boobs and kissed him hard trying to get him to calm down. "Are you okay now?" She asked after a few minutes.

"Yes." Scott said robotically.

Anna held his head to her chest. "Are you okay with what I did to him?" She asked looking scared.

"Yes, I am. He would have killed me if not for you taking him out. It just all hit me when I saw the guns. I've never really been comfortable around guns before." He said.

"Your mother never took you shooting before. Never gave you a gun?" She asked.

"Not really. She tended to keep work at work. She had a few guns in the house but they were always locked up. She taught me how to be safe around guns and even how to shot them but she never gave me one or anything like that." He said.

"Well if we are going to be together then you're going to have to get more comfortable with them. I always want you to carry one just in case something happens. I can't protect you all day every day after all, and I need to know you're able to protect yourself." She said standing up. "Hold on, I have an idea." She said going back into the room. She came back a minute later with a PPK/s and a black leather holster. "This is called an executive carry holster. It's the same one James Bond has. It's small and easy to hide. You're going to have to wear two layers from now on until we find something better." She said smiling as slipped his left arm through and slung the elastic band behind his neck, around his right arm and clipped the clasp to his belt. "I want you to carry this gun always." She said showing him the assassin's weapon. "This is a Walther PPK/s. this one is a .380 caliber. That's big enough to put someone down if you know what you're doing but in an untrained hand it's enough to slow someone down. It's single and double action. This is the safety, and this is the mag release. The magazine holds seven rounds and there is a round in the chamber right now. All you have to do is drop the safety and pull the trigger." She said handing him the gun.

Scott took it with shaky hands and held it the way his mother showed him to a long time ago. It was small in his hands but it still fit oddly well. "I feels nice. I like it." He muttered out loud.

Anna smirked. "You look sexy holding that gun. Like a geeky James Bond." She said showing him how to secure it in the holster. "I think you should take all of his weapons. Chuck can teach you how to use them." She said getting the two cases. When she came out of the bedroom there was a knock at the door. Anna saw it was Morgan and let him in. "Are the cleaners here?" she asked.

"Waiting in a van out front. I have the car waiting too. Let's go." He said looking at his watch.

"Relax Morgan. The pre-game jitters hit all of us. The best way to get over them is to relax. The team can't go in without us and we can't lead the team in until Chuck makes the call." Anna said patting him on the back. "Morgan you've met Scott before." She said pushing Morgan down to sit next to Scott on the couch. "Help me keep him calm will you? He's a bit freaked out and we need him to keep his cool." She said to both of them and smiled when they both nodded.

"Got you." Morgan said relax on the couch next to Scott.

"Do you have any bread in this place Scott?" She asked from the kitchen.

"In the cabinet by the microwave." He called out.

"It's good to get some toast in your belly before a mission. It will soak up any acid and help settle your stomach." She said puttering around in the kitchen. "It will also make your vomit not hurt as much latter" she muttered to herself. Today was Morgan's first field test. He was going to be carrying a gun with live ammo and shooting at real people for the first time. She was glad he was with her today, she could help him get over the first kill and not make him feel like he was being judged by his friends.

Time: 0701 Location: Rush Hospital, Chicago IL

Jenifer drove the rental car into the parking garage and when she got out of the car she pulled her long wool coat on and did up the buttons, as well as pulled on a knit hat. A week in the city and she still wasn't used to the cold. Even with the coat, her thick black sweater, and heavy black jeans she still felt the bone chilling cold. She made her way up to the private room where Melissa was staying with her dad Robert. As it turned out the fake heart attack and subsequent tests showed a pretty bad blockage in her father's arteries. With a minor surgery they fixed the problem and he was recovering in the hospital.

The problem was they didn't have a lot of time to talk about the mission. She did get to know Melissa's family over the course of the week, and help them understand what Melissa job as an agent meant. When she got to the room she saw Melissa sleeping on a couch in the corner and her mother, Susan, sitting by the bed. "Hello Mrs. Barns, how are things going?" She asked coming into the room.

"Good dear. Very good. He'll be out in a day or two and back home, and I thought I told you to call me Sue." She said waving her over to the chair next to her.

"You did, but I always feel it's more respectful to use proper names." She said sitting down. She set her coat on the duffle bag next to her on the floor.

"Proper my big ass. You keep calling me Mrs. Barns and I'll give you a spanking." Sue said with a big smile taking Jenifer's arm.

"If you two chatterboxes don't shut up you'll wake dad." Melissa said standing up from the couch.

"Too late, I'm already up." Robert said sitting up.

"Does that bag have my things in it?" Melissa asked.

"It does. Get dressed, I have the team standing by at location one." Jenifer said tossing her the bag.

"Good. Any word from anyone else?" She asked walking to the attached bathroom.

"Nothing so far. We will know if things went right when Chuck sends out the call at 8:15. Until then it's a waiting game." Jenifer said.

"I know, I just don't like the silence." She said shutting the door.

"She just doesn't like being away from Chuck for too long." Jen said smirking.

"Tell us about this Chuck guy." Robert said sitting up in bed.

"What's there to say really? He's a great guy that, organized the takedown of the largest threat to this country since the Iron Curtin fell." Jen said.

"And my little girl is sweet on him." Robert said smirking.

"I think we all are to some extent. He's tall, good looking, and he fills out a suit real nice. He's also quite the charmer. Nothing to it though, he's just a good guy. He's also the team leader and Melissa's partner. They were undercover for a few weeks together. He made sure she was okay and got her out of L.A. so she could run this op. with me, and so she could see you guys." Jen said.

"Is he single?" Sue asked.

"Married to an Operative on the team. She's a real legend in the CIA. Not the nicest of women socially but nice enough once you start talking to her. She's a tall leggy blond bombshell. It's funny sometimes I think the two look odd together and sometime they look like a good match. It's all in the way they carry themselves." Jen said.

"That's because when he's undercover they fight and when he's relaxed they get along. They better figure it out soon because I get first shot at him if they break up." Melissa said walking out of the bathroom in black jeans and a black turtle neck sweater.

"That's not a very nice thing to say honey." Sue said.

"It's true though. I've heard them talking about it. She gets Chuck if they break up." Jen said.

"See mom, everyone knows." Melissa said pulling her hair back with a rubber band.

"Melissa, I hate to be that person, but we have to get going soon. We have to meet the team, gear up, and get some food in our bellies." Jen said looking at her watch.

"Okay." Melissa said walking the bed. "Dad, I'll see you later tonight." She said kissing him on the cheek.

"Be careful little girl." Robert said looking like he wanted to say something to stop her, but he knew he couldn't. She was an agent with a mission to do, and he understood that being a military man himself. Everyone in his whole family were military, but seeing his little girl all grown up and ready for a fight made him uneasy.

"I will dad. I have a whole tactical team to do all the heavy lifting and I have Jen to watch my back." Melissa said walking around the bed to her mom.

"Be safe and look after each other." Sue said hugging her daughter.

"We will mom." She said pulling back. She looked to Jen and she nodded. "I have to go. I'll be back later with good news." She said picking up her leather jacket off the couch and followed Jen out of the room. As they walked down the hall Melissa's face lost some of the sad look it had. "Where is the team set up?" She asked.

"We are going to hit the office building first. It's the location that's hardest to get to so we took some time last night to set up the team in an empty office one floor up from the Fulcrum office. The plan is to blow a hole in the floor above the main entrance and droop a few flash bangs in before we storm the office from three sides; the front, the back, and the top. In the confusion we should be able to do this in seconds. The idea is to drop the agents and arrest the computer geeks running intel. The file says they all carry guns but I doubt any of these geeks have fired them since training." Jen said as they walked to the car.

"Right. Good work with the planning. I'm sorry you had to do the brunt of it but with the real surgery and all, I've had no time to help." Melissa said.

"It's okay. I can handle it and I understand what you're going through. My own father went through something similar a few years back." Jen said as they drove away from the hospital.

"Thanks for being here for me Jen. I know you didn't have to be." Melissa said.

"What are friends for?" Jen said smiling.

Time: 0630 Location: parking garage, Queens, NY

Sam looked at the building once more through the small spotting scope. All was quite with the twenty man tactical team in the four SUVs behind her. This was the calm before the storm. In forty-five minutes they would get the call and all hell would break lose. They would plow down the ramp and across the street. Crash the front entrance and kill the agents guarding the IT guys. After that they would hand off to the local cops waiting up the street and then it was a quick drive to the parking lot six blocks away and on to the three Blackhawk choppers. The next target required a roof top entry. The hotel was ten floors tall and all of the people in it were either agents or gang members on the Fulcrum payroll, or hookers. They would hit it from the roof and NYPD SWAT was going to hit it from the ground floor. Hopefully they could keep up a good pace with the day's missions. It was really cold today and the faster they took care of things the faster she could get back on a jet and head for L.A. where the temperature got above freezing, and stayed there. Rick walked up in a tactical vest and a thermal Under Armor work out shirt. He was loving every minute of them being back in his home town. Every night they ate at a different place somewhere in the city and every night it was new to her. She could see the appeal of the Big Apple. If it wasn't Siberia cold out she would have probable liked it more.

"You pumped Sam?" He asked with a big smile on his face.

"I am. I'm also freezing. I can't wait to get back to L.A., do you know the high today is 73 there?" She said dourly.

"Come on Glass. You're in the best city in the world, take it all in." Rick said waving at the Manhattan skyline across the water.

"First of all, Chicago is the best city in the world. If you don't believe me ask Melissa, she'll back me up. Secondly it's too dam cold to enjoy anything but curling, and hockey right now." She said.

Rick laughed. "I'll give you points for the curling joke, but I'll ignore the rest." He said looking at the Skyline with a shine in his eyes.

"How long has it been since you've been back here?" She asked.

"Too long. Three years I think, but the concert jungle called out to me every time I saw it in a move or TV show. She's my city, and these past few days have been great." He said.

"I'll make you a deal Rick. If we both make it out alive today then I'll let you stay to handle the clean up, and I'll go back to L.A. for the briefing." She said patting him on the shoulder.

"Deal." Rick said slinging an arm around her back as they looked out over the city. One with shining pride and love, the other with teeth chattering distain.

Time: 0830 Location: Warehouse outside of Austen, TX

Texas Ranger Roy Dobbs loved being in the action. He loved bar fights and shoot outs and drug busts and especially car chases. He was sure no one loved the action more then him, until he met Carina Henson.

She was twenty pounds of crazy in a five pound bag.

In the three days since she got to Texas she caused more trouble then she helped. On Thursday night she got into a bar fight with the local KKK guys for insulting a black waitress. She shot three of then and broke the other two up so bad they were still in the hospital. Then on Friday she tagged along on a Cartel bust to get intel on her two targets. She drove an old Cop car through a front of the restaurant the Cartel used as a front for their drug ring and shot up the whole place, killing almost everyone. He just hoped this day went by fast, and she got on a plane out of town soon, because he didn't think the great state of Texas could take one more night of her. He looked up when an old pickup truck came rumbling into the warehouse. She hopped out in full tactical gear carrying a riot shotgun and wearing big sunglasses. Speak of the devil and she shale appear.

"How are things going Dobbs" She asked smacking him on the ass.

"Fine, quite like. Not too much movement inside." He said with his eyes narrowed and his lips set into a thin line.

"Oh come on Ranger Tight Pants. Lighten up a little. If this all goes good today and I'm not called in to back anyone up I'll blow you in the back seat of your car." She said grabbing his junk and licking his ear as she walked away.

"God help me by getting rid of this devil woman." He muttered shaking his head.

Time: 0945 Location: C130 above Pacific ocean air space.

Vicky looked at her team from her seat by the cargo door. They were some of the most highly trained Navy SEALs she had ever met and she did missions in Iraq. They were going to pull off one of the most exciting things she had ever done. A HALO raid on an airfield in the middle of the Le Paz desert in Mexico. This was going to be tricky. They had to take an around about way of getting to Le Paz. One that took them out over the ocean and hooked back into Mexican air space. Then they had to fly above the Mexican Radar ceiling, jump out of the plane and free fall under the base's radar but open their shoots high enough to land safely. Hopefully the report she got from Chuck was right. Because if the base had more then twenty people they were going to have a problem. As soon as they took the base they had to search it from top to bottom for intel and gas up the B1. Then it was just a matter of taking off and blasting north for US air space before the Mexican government figured out they were in there. Nothing too hard considering she never flew anything bigger then a F-16E and she was going to be flying with a nuclear tipped cruse missile. On top of that none of the SEALs knew how to fly the bomber, two of them were in the same boat as her having never flown anything bigger then a small jet, and one was a chopper pilot but none could fly the bomber. That meant if she was hurt they were fucked. A fight crew guy in green coveralls and a yellow air mask walked up to her. "Ma'am we are fifteen minutes out from the target. You should have the team put on their air masks." He shouted over the sound of engines.

"Thanks for the heads up." She yelled back giving him the thumbs up.

Fifteen minutes, then all she had to do was take a base, not get shot, and fly an armed B1 bomber across Mexican air space without permission. Nothing to worry about she thought as her hands started to shake. Nothing to worry about at all.

Time: 0630 Location: parking lot, Bostan, MA

Steven Snow checked his gun again. He hated waiting. Hated it more then anything else in the world. Waiting left you time to think. And thinking was your enemy when it came to tactical raids like this. Because once you started thinking about things you couldn't stop thinking about them. Thinking about your wife's failing health. Your kids and how they would live without you around. Thinking about the possibility you could be walking into an ambush. That the enemy was waiting for you to come through the door so they could mow you down like lambs to the slaughter. In a way he was glade to be back in the field. He liked the action. He liked leading men into danger and bringing them home at the end of the day. He liked the rush he felt when he took a door clean off it's hinges with a good solid kick. The way things slowed down in a firefight when your adrenaline was pumping and shit was happing all around you. He loved all of that shit a lot. But waiting for the action to happen? That was hell. He checked the time and saw only a few seconds had passed since he last looked at the clock. Cursing under his breath he pulled his mag out and checked it before jamming it back into his M4. Man he hated waiting. Hated it more then anything else in the world. Waiting left you time to think. And thinking was your enemy when it came to tactical raids like this one.

Time: 0850 Location: Side street in the warehouse district, Denver CO

Kate looked out as the snow fell like powder sugar outside the SUV window. It was beautiful. She was sure if they weren't parked on this shit hole side of town the scene would have been even nicer. She looked at the clock on the dash and clicked her tongue. Twenty minutes at lest. Then it was going to get real crazy. In twenty minutes she was going to see if the Intersect in her head worked like it was supposed to. Like Chuck said it would. Thinking about Chuck made her touch her angel pendent. It had been two weeks since she got her angel and she wore it everyday with pride. She loved being on the team and she loved working for Chuck. He was so good to her and now he trusted her with a twenty man tactical team and an important mission. She kissed her pendent and promised Chuck she would get the job done and come home safe. He needed his Sliver Angel after all.

Time: 0700 Location: Blackhawk helicopter landing pad, Philadelphia, PA.

Alex looked at her watch and pulled the straps of her vest tighter. She still couldn't believe a small vest was lose on her. She needed to start working out more. It was something she was talking about with Casey and when she got back to Castle she was going to start. Thinking about Casey made her smile. She loved working with him. He reminded her of her dad so much. Strong silent type but you could see love in their eyes when they thought you weren't looking. She felt special working with, and learning from him. One day she hoped to play the Casey role on the team. The back up guy. The reliable one. Looking at the tactical guys seated around her she smiled. For a long time she wanted to be like them. Be in the action everyday, but Casey showed her that playing the back up guy for your team was more important. Being the guy they called when the plan fell apart was a big job but one that put a warm feeling in her chest.

Time: 0959 Location: RI auditorium.

Chuck and Jordan stood back stage with Ted Roark as he read his little speech cards again. Chuck and Jordan shared a look and both of them rolled their eyes as Ted crossed things out on his cards. "Ted, why don't you just go up their and wing it? Speak from the heart, tell them that you've been trying to build this for years. Tell them that this is the first day of a new era of Fulcrum power. Tell them after today Fulcrum will be unstoppable." Chuck said patting him on the back.

"You think I should wing it Chuck?" He asked looking up from his cards.

"I do. All great war time speeches are natural sounding, and full of passion. Don't go up there with cards and make it sound woody. Also make it short. You don't want then to get board. You want them pumped up." Chuck said taking the cards out of his hands and turning him to the stage.

"So short and full of passion?" He asked looking at the assembled agents.

"You got it." Chuck said giving him a little push.

Ted walked to center stage. "For those of you that don't know, I'm Fulcrum Command. I've been working on a project for close to 35 years. What started out as an idea in a think tank in the 70's turned out to be one of the biggest breakthroughs in science and Technology ever. Today you are gathered here for the first mass download of the Intersect! Tomorrow we take our rightful place running this country!" Ted said to cheers from the audience.

Chuck looked over his coding one more time as Ted talked. He wanted to do this fast and as painless as possible. He figured if he cranked the program up to eleven he could deep fry all of their brains in thirty seconds. Chuck looked up as Ted walked back stage. "How did I do?" He asked with a big smile.

"Great Ted, very exciting." Chuck said giving him the thumbs up.

Chuck said a quick prayer that this all worked like it was supposed to and hit the enter key. On the big screen numbers started counting down from ten. At one the flashing started. A second later the first blood curdling screams started. Ted ran to the edge of the curtain and looked out at all of the agents clawing at their eyes in horror. He turn around and found Chuck standing there. Before he could even make a sound he felt the impact of Chuck's fist to his gut. The force of the blow doubled him over. Next came a knee to the chin that dazed him and put him on the ground. Chuck rolled him over and zip tied his arms behind his back. He then grabbed a hand full of Ted's hair and slammed his face into the floor. "I want you to know this now so you understand why I'm doing the things going to do to you in the coming weeks and months. I want you to know who I am." Chuck said pulling Ted up by his hair. "My Name is Charles Bartowski. My father was Steven Bartowski. You killed my father, and now I'm going to rip every shred of information you have in that head of yours out before I kill you slowly over the course of a few days. I'm going to do things to you that are illegal in every country in the world. Crimes against humanity don't even cover what you are going to go through." Chuck said punching him in the face and knocking him out.

Jordan tapped him on the shoulder and handed him a small roll of duct tape. "Come on Chuck, we have a job to do." She said calmly.

"We do." Chuck said ripping off a piece of tape and covering Ted's mouth. He drug Ted over to a trap door. "Hold that open." He side nodding at the door. Once Ted was under the stage Chuck pulled off his suit jacket and started opening computer towers. In a few minutes they were fully geared up.

Chuck lead Jordan to the side door and out into the hallway. "Go down that hall and hang a right. Go into the men's room and come out the other side. Once you reach the corner wait one minute and kill the two guards from behind." Chuck said waving down the hall.

"Got you Chuck." She said walking down the hall with her MP5K up.

Chuck turned right and came around the corner and stopped. He ghosted to the edge of the wall and peaked around. He saw two guards not looking his way. Bringing his gun up he ducked around the cover and shot both of them three times apiece. He ran past them to the main hall with the big auditorium doors and saw six guys standing around. He saw the big column twenty feet away and knew that was his second cover. He pulled the roll of quarters out of his pocket and took half of them out. He tossed then into the middle of the lobby and watched as all of their heads turned to the sound in the middle of the floor. Chuck popped out into the room and shot four of them as he ran to the column before they even saw him. One of the two guards still alive tried to bring his M4 up but he took three to the chest. His friend had just enough time to look at Chuck before he caught three to the chest as well. Chuck ran to the left side hallway and kicked over a table making the two guards in the hallway look his way as soon as they turned to him Jordan popped out of cover and shot them in the back. Jordan walked up to him as he changed his mag. "That's ten down. Ten in the lobby. Two on the balcony above them. Two guarding the back elevator. Two on the roof. Two by the west side door and two covering the door to the garage." Chuck said listing off the rest of the targets.

"Where do you need me?" Jordan asked.

"I need you to take the two by the west door, and the two by the garage. Both teams are far enough away from the main lobby so don't worry about ammo or them shooting back, just don't let them call for help. I'll meet you back here in five." Chuck said.

"Got you. Back in five." She said walking to the hall that lead to the west entrance.

Chuck went down the hallway leading to the back elevator. He stopped at the corner and dropped to the floor. He looked around the corner with his gun and put three in each guard. He called the elevator and pulled one of the two guards in to the elevator with him. He hit the top floor and hid next to the panel. When the doors opened up on the roof the two guards saw the dead body and reached for their radios. Chuck came out from his hiding spot and shot both of them. He took the elevator back down and met Jordan at the main hallway. She was leaned up against the wall holding her side. Chuck ran to her. "What happened?" He asked pulling her hand away.

"I took a hit to the vest. I think I broke a rib." She wheezed out.

Chuck pulled the vest aside and saw blood. "Jordan I want you to sit down and keep pressure on it. The bullet went through the vest and you're bleeding." Chuck said calmly as he walked her over to a chair.

"It went through?" She asked pulling the vest down to look. "Shit. Now what?"

"Did you clear your two posts?" Chuck asked.

"I did, it was the garage guy that got me." She said.

"Then I need you to sit tight, I'll be back in a few minutes then we can call in the all clear and get you to a hospital." Chuck said walking away.

"Are you sure you got this Chuck?" She asked feeling the pain coming in waves.

"I'm sure, just keep calm and keep pressure on that." Chuck said putting in a fresh mag. He took the side stairwell up to the second floor and stood by the main elevator bank watching the two guards patrol the walkway above the lobby. He waited till they walked towards him and kicked the trash can he was standing by. The two guards came to see what the noise was and Chuck took them out from elevator doorway. Chuck stayed crouched down as he crawled to the walkway. He pulled the two flask bangs from his vest, pulled the pins, and tossed them over the railing. He closed his eyes and covered his ears and listened for the tell tall sound of bells ringing before he opened his eyes. He saw the ten guys stumbling around and holding their faces.

Chuck picked them off quickly before running back to Jordan. He pulled out his cell phone and called Anna. "It's go time. Have Morgan call the rest of the teams for me. Jordan's been hit and I need to call it in. I don't think it's bad, just a graze, so we will be back at Castle if you want to drop Scott off to see his mother." Chuck said.

"I understand. See you in a bit Chuck." She said hanging up the phone and turned to Morgan. "Jordan's been shot, it's not bad, just a flesh wound but he needs to take care of her. I need you to call the other teams. Chuck just gave us the green light." She said, and smiled as Morgan pulled out his phone and started making the calls. She turned back to Scott who was sitting in the back of the Dodge Charger a few feet away. She slid in next to him and picked up his hand. "Scott, that was Chuck. He said your mother was shot, but it's not bad, just a scratch, and they are calling for the NSA clean up crew to look her over. She will be taken to Castle and Chuck said we should drop you off after this raid." She said.

"Is she going to be okay?" Scott asked looking panicked again.

"She should be fine. I'm sure this is not the first time she's been shot before. It's part of the job. It happens. I'm sure she will be fine in no time." Anna said hoping she was right.

"Okay." Scott said sitting back in his seat.

"Okay?" Anna asked sliding into his lap.

"Yes, Okay. You told me everything you could and I'll be seeing her soon." Scott said looking calm, but his eyes carried his worry.

"I have to lead the assault team now. As soon as we have the building secure I'll hand it off to the NSA Cleaners and we can go see Jordan." Anna said kissing him.

"Okay." Scott said nodding.

"I love you so much. I'll be right back." She said getting out of the car.

Morgan was waiting for her with her vest in hand. "Lets do this so we can get him back to Castle." Morgan said.

Anna's eyes got cold. "Yes let's get this done." She said coldly.


	29. Chapter 29

Anna road on the side of the SUV as it came around the corner behind the SUV with the ram bars on the front. She watched as the lead SUV speed up at the last second and plowed through the big garage door on the side of the warehouse.

She saw five guys jump out and start dropping targets inside the warehouse. Her SUV rolled up to the front and stopped letting her jump off with Morgan right behind her. She came through the door with her MP5K up and saw most of the targets down in the room. She also saw one of her tactical guys on the floor.

She ran for cover and saw a guy come through a door to the side with a gun out she brought her gun up and fired off a quick burst dropping him. She rolled behind a stack of crates and popped up to see if anyone was still standing. She saw one guy in the corner with an M4. She aimed and dropped him with a few rounds.

"Hit the Door!" She said pointing to the side door.

Three tactical guys stacked up on the door as one pulled a flash bang. On three the guy kicked open the door and tossed in the grenade. The three guys went through the door followed by three more. She heard them exchange gun fire as she ran for the door.

She looked in and saw five targets firing from behind cover at her six tactical guys. "Stay down!" She called out as she ran for cover behind a stack of crates to the side of the room.

She ghosted around the crates and up the side of the room as they were occupied with her tactical guys they never saw her coming. She popped out from behind cover and shot two of them. She ducked behind a metal stair case and rolled out the other side letting off a burst of full auto and taking out the rest of them. She dropped her mag and reached for a new one when she felt someone push her over.

She looked up and saw Morgan land on top of her. They roll behind the stairs as bullets pinged off the metal. Morgan popped up and returned fire hitting a guy in the corner with an M4. When the guy fell Morgan looked shocked for a second before tossing up his morning toast.

She patted him on the back. "Good shot Morgan, I owe you one. Relax here for a few minutes. I'll handle the rest." She said checking to make sure there were no more targets before standing up and moving back to the main room.

From there she saw the other half of her team in a gun fight with a few guy's in suits towards the back where the firing range was. She made her way over to her team shooting a straggler on the way. She popped up over her crate and took aim at a guy standing too far out of his cover and dropped him with three to the chest.

"We need to take these last few guys out." She said to the tactical team leader standing behind a crate to the left of her.

"Any suggestions?" The team leader asked.

Morgan dropped down next to Anna still looking green but also calm. "Keep them looking at you and we'll hit them from the right." Morgan said pointing to an office to the right.

"Good call, on me." She said dropping her mag for a fresh one.

She popped up looked around and ran for the next cover with Morgan on her ass. They made it to the office door and saw a guy in a black suit on the phone trying to call someone. Anna rolled around the door and shot him three time in the chest. She stayed low and went to the widow in the corner of the office. From there she saw the three guys still standing.

"On three we pop up and take out the last three guys." She said

"On three." Morgan said shouldering his MP5.

"1. 2. 3!" She said popping up shooting, she dropped the two on the left and Morgan got the one on the right.

She looked at the team leader. "Teams search this place! I want every last one of these Fulcrum guys dead!" She called out and saw the tactical guys spread out through the building.

She turned to Morgan who was sitting with his back to the wall clutching his gun to his chest. "Morgan. You did a good job. Lets get you out of here." She said helping him up.

She walked him out of the office to the front of the building where an ambulance was tending to the shot tactical agent.

She saw another one of her guys talking to the EMTs. "How bad is he?" She asked.

"He took a bullet to the leg. Not too bad but he needs to go to the ER to see if it hit anything." The agent said.

"At least he's not dead. Get him squared away and help the rest of the team with the sweep. I want to do the hand off in ten minutes." She said walking Morgan to the second SUV. She sat him in the back seat. "How are you feeling Morgan?" She asked.

"What?" He asked looking lost. Anna reached back and slapped him in the face. "Hay!" He said holding his red cheek.

"You were in shock. I asked you how you were doing. Are you okay?" She asked.

"I think so?" Morgan said looking at his shaking hands.

"That's the adrenaline. It will ware off in a few minutes. Sit tight and if you feel like you have to throw up, do it. It will help you calm your nerves." She said holding his hands.

"No I think I'm good." He said nodding still looking green.

"Sit tight. I'll be back I a few minutes." She said walking away.

"Right. I'll be fine." Morgan said nodding. "I'm fine." he said to himself and then he felt the bile rise up in his throat and he was sick again. Two tactical guys walked by the SUV, saw him throwing up, and shared a smile.

"Remember the first time that happened?" the taller one asked he friend.

"To be young and green again. I wish it on no one." The other guy replied.

They were sharing a laugh at Morgan's expense when the ground shook and smoke came pouring out of the building.

"What the fuck was that?" the first guy asked but before the other guy could answer he was knocked over as Morgan ran into the smoke filled building.

Time: 0716 Location: 21 floor, office building in the South Loop, Chicago IL

Melissa stood in the stair well with five tactical guys. She was wearing a vest and gas mask. She checked her watch one more time and started to feel fear. 7:16, which was 10:16 back in Los Angeles. Chuck should have called by now. Something was wrong. She was just thinking about pulling out her phone when it vibrated. She saw it was Morgan and ripped her gas mask off before answering with a lot of trepidation. "Melissa, you have a green light." He said calmly.

"Why are you calling me and not Chuck?" She asked.

"Jordan was hit during the assault and Chuck is tending to her. It's nothing bad but you know how Chuck is. He probably has her back at Castle by now." Morgan said smiling.

"True, send our love to Jordan will you Morgan. We'll check in with Castle after the raid." She said.

"Got you. Good hunting and stay safe." Morgan said hanging up.

Melissa pocketed her phone. She tapped her throat mic. "We have a green light. Call it Jen, you're team leader." She said pulling her mask back on.

"Okay People look alive." Jen said over the radio. "We go on my count. 3.2.1. GO!" She shouted.

Melissa felt the shake of the charges go off before the fire alarm went off. One of the Tactical guys kicked in the door and she followed her five man team in.

The office had an open floor plan with fifty cubical in the center of the big room and private offices around the outer walls. Her job was the three Agents in the cubicles closest to her door and the line of office on the South facing wall. With her MP5 at the ready she scanned faces in the crowd as they all tried to get out of the office, the problem for them was once they got to the front waiting room, there they were met by Jen who was looking for the faces of the real agents in the crowd. She saw a man in a black suit pull out a gun only to be taken down by one of her tactical guys. She swept right flashing on every face she saw until she got to an older lady, she put a bullet in her shoulder and another in her leg dropping her.

She advanced on her, gun at the ready. "Gun on the ground Now!" She shouted over the panicked screams.

The lady pulled a glock19 out and tossed it ten feet away. "We got one for zip ties!" She called out and one of her tactical guys cuffed the woman.

When she saw he had her she went back on the scan. She looked at the people making a run for the front door and spotted another agent. "Target! White male, six foot, black hair, gray suit with blue tie." She called over the radio, and watched as a tactical guy from the ceiling team tacked the guy to the ground and cuffed him.

She turned to the first office and kicked it open. She saw a guy hiding behind the desk with a gun. "Drop the gun! You have one chance to do it or I'll drop you!" She yelled.

The guy popped up with his gun aimed at her and she dropped him with three shots to the chest. She rolled him over with her boot and saw he was one of the two office managers.

"Shit. We needed to take him alive." She muttered. "Jen, I shot Soto." She called over the radio.

"Copy that, I have Burk. I also have the other six agents out here, four alive two dead." Jen said.

"Good. I'll start clearing offices." Melissa said.

Time: 0717 Location: Warehouse next to the Potomac, VA

"Morgan why are you calling and not my husband?" Sarah asked.

"Because Jordan was hit and Chuck is taking her back to Castle. She's fine, he's fine, and they are both sitting on their asses by now back at Castle. You have the green light for your mission. Good hunting." Morgan said.

"I understand, thanks Morgan." She said hanging up. She turned to Casey and nodded.

"Okay everyone, we have a green light! Hit it!" He said. Watching the twenty tactical guys toss flash bangs through the windows and storm the doors. He and Sarah were the last ones into the warehouse.

Sarah tracked a guy with a gun in his hand coming out of a side door and dropped him with a short burst from her MP5. Spinning left she checked the room and saw three other guys pulling M4s off a rack. Reaching down she pulled a flash bang off her vest and tossed it into the room. She ducked down and waited for the ping. She then kicked in the door and shot all three of them in three quick bursts.

She pulled her mag and tossed it into the dump pouch on her leg before loading a new one and checking the connecting room. She saw a woman hiding under a table. "Come out with your hand's up!" She called out and the woman did, Sarah got a good look at her face and flashed, she was a low level office worker.

Sarah zip tied her hands behind her back. She was about to pick her up off the ground when she heard something behind her. Diving to the ground she rolled over and shot a man in a dark gray suit with a gun in his hand. "Stay put, I'll be back for you later." She said to the woman on the ground before checking the door to the main room and slipping out.

She hid behind a crate and tracked the fight looking for any place she could help but it looked like her team hand things under control. She saw most of the Agents were down or about to be put down and so far no one was hurt. She was just about to go back to her prisoner when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Up on a cat walk was a guy with a M4. She swung her gun up and let off a few rounds but he shot a few times as he fell to the ground.

"Team leader is hit! Repeat Team leader is down! Call in the EMTs!" She heard over her ear piece and her insides turned to ice. Team leader was Casey.

Time: 0718 Location: parking garage, Queens, NY

Sam felt her phone and saw Morgan was calling. "Morgan? I thought…" 

"That Chuck was going to call, he was going to but he's taking care of Jordan, she got grazed so he took her back to Castle. You have a green light. Good hunting." Morgan said.

"Right. Good to know Morgan. I'll talk to you later." She said hanging up. She turned to Rick. "It's go time." She said picking up her MP5 off the dash.

"Right, let's do this people!" He called out over the radio as he sped down the ramp, across the street and into the front windows of the small office building. Sam jumped out and put three in the front guard's chest as he fumbled for his gun. She swept right and up the stair well heading for the second floor she tagged another agent coming down the stairs with a Glock in his hand. She kicked open the door and tossed a flash bang into the room before coming through the door. She saw about twenty people stumbling around holding their ears. She scanned each of them as she cleared the main room just when she thought they were all computer geeks she spotted an agent crawling for an open office door. She tagged his shoulder and leg before kneeling on his back and zip tying his hands behind his back.

She looked around the room once more before kicking open the bathroom doors. No one was in the men's room but she tagged a female agent trying to use the bathroom door for shooting cover. She cleared the rest of the five offices on the floor before calling in the all clear on her floor.

"Copy that, I'm all clear on the third floor." Rick said.

"Team leader, Tac1 has the ground floor clear." She heard over the radio.

"Copy that, Tac2 are you clear?" She asked.

"Negative! We are taking fire from a back office. Looks like the boss of this operation!" she got back in reply.

"Copy, hold position I'm coming up. Tac1 start rounding up the geeks." She said running to the stairs.

She rounded the second set of stairs leading to the third floor and saw her tactical guys pined down in the front office taking fire from six guys with M4 in the back office. She ran up the last set of stairs to the roof. She ran to the fire escape that was mounted to the back wall of the building and climbed down the ladder until she was just to the left of the back window to the big office.

"Tac2, when you hear the flash bang stop shooting." She said popping a fresh mag into her MP5.

She pulled out a K-bar knife in her right hand and a flash bang in her left. In a quick move she smashed the window with her knife shattering the glass before tossing in the flash bang. After the ping she jumped into the broken window and sprayed the office with all thirty rounds form her MP5 when the mag ran dry she let the sub machinegun go and pulled out her Glock19. She scanned the room for any survivors and tagged the two men closest to the door one more time before she called in the all clear.

Tac2 team leader Marc Hill came through the door first and looked at all the carnage in the office. He pulled his sidearm and shot the last light sconce. "You missed one." He said smirking.

"Everyone's got jokes, but you didn't have jokes a minute ago now did you?" She said picking up her MP5.

Hill smiled a charming smile. "No ma'am, I did not." He said.

"Do me a favor and clean this up." She said walking away shaking her head.

"I think she likes me, what do you think Ross?" Hill asked the guy standing next to him.

"I think she'll shoot you before the day is over if you keep fucking with her." Ross said patting him on the back.

"Nah, she likes me." Hill said smirking.

Time: 1019 Location: Warehouse outside of Austen, TX

Carina saw Morgan's face on her phone. "Morgan?" She asked.

"Jordan was grazed, Chuck is taking her back to Castle, and I'm giving you the green light." Morgan said in a snippy tone of voice.

"So I'm not you're first call I take it?" Carina asked laughing.

"No, and I'm starting to take offence to people asking for Chuck." Morgan said.

"Hang in there Morgan. I'll talk to you later when we move on to the next target." She said smiling.

"Thanks Red, I'll talk to you later." Morgan said.

"RED!" Carina yelled but he was gone. "That little hairy gnome is going to pay for that.

"Making friends everywhere today aren't we?" Ranger Dobbs asked sarcastically.

"Keep talking to me like that and I'll spank you later. Now go round up the posse, we're going in hot." She said walking over to the old pick up truck she came in. Dobbs got the DEA and Rangers into the three SUVs, he then walked over to the old pick up.

"We are all ready to go.' He said.

"Good. Get in." She said tossing open the passenger door.

"Okay." Dobbs said looking unsure.

"Come on Ranger Tight Pants. Where's your sense of adventure?" She said waving him in.

"Fine." He said hopping into the truck with his 12 gage shotgun. "Now what's the plan?" He asked.

"Plan? Who said anything about a plan?" She said gunning the engine and pealing out of the warehouse. She came around the corner, tires screeching. She lined up with the loading dock ramp and slammed the gas pedal down.

"OH GOD!" Dobbs yelled just before they hit the ramp, caught air and went flying through the thin sheet metal wall of the warehouse. The truck smashed through an office before plowing through the inner wall headed for a drug lab.

"JUMP!" She yelled diving out of the truck.

Dobbs had just enough time to jump from the out of control truck before it smashed through the lab, blowing it up. Dobbs rolled across the ground coming to a stop by a metal column. He looked around and saw Carina hip firing her riot shotgun as she ran for cover behind a shipping container. He saw about thirty Cartel guys looking around confused. He took aim at the one close to him and blasted him with a wall of buckshot. He sighted in on the next guy and repeated the process.

By then they figured out what was going on and started shooting back. Dobbs rolled around the column and dropped two more guys before bullets started pinging off the beam. He saw Carina ditch the shotgun and pull out two Glocks. She saw he was pinned down and shot the four guys firing at him, but she drew the attention of the guys standing next to him and she ended up having to dive back behind cover to avoid getting shot. By now the other DEA and Rangers were there and in seconds the rest of the cartel guys were down. Dobbs ran over to Carina to make sure she was okay.

"Are you hit." He asked looking her over.

"No, but now I know you like me." She said winking at him before slapping him on the ass and walking away.

"That crazy bitch is going to be the death of me." Dobbs muttered as he leaned up against the container and tried to get his heart rate down.

Time: 0720 Location: parking lot, Boston, MA

Steven pulled out his phone. "Go, or no go?" he asked.

"Go." Morgan said.

"Copy." Steven said hanging up. He turned to his team, but also tapped his throat mic so the other five guys in the SUV behind him could hear. "Lets roll out! I want this warehouse secured so we can move on. Remember we got off light. There are two teams that are going to be running missions all day today and we are their back up. I want to secure our three targets and be sitting on a Blackhawk waiting for orders." He said. "Now lets ride out and get this done."

The two SUV rolled up to the warehouse slowly, and the team got out on the side with the fire escape. Steven went up the ladder first. At the top he saw a guy in black a BDU smoking. He ghosted up behind him and put him in a sleeper hold. When he was knocked out he zip tied his hands and waved the rest of the team up.

They came in through the roof door and made their way around the upper level taking up spots every few feet around the upper level. They dropped the four guys working upstairs without anyone knowing they were there, They tracked the twenty guys walking around on the ground floor. All of them were in black BDU's and carrying M4. Through hand gestures and muttered commands everyone was dead before they even knew what was going on. When the last body hit the floor Steven looked around and nodded. "Alright, let's clear it out, I want this place searched top to bottom. I want to hand this off to the FBI in ten minutes." He said waving his hands to point out things.

He stopped one of the tactical guys. "I need you to make the call to the FBI, I have to go confirm all of the dead Fulcrum agents." He said walking downstairs. At the bottom he found two dead agents in dark suites. Both were ex-CIA, both were very bad guys, and both were wanted by the government for treason. Looking left he spotted another one with the same wrap sheet. After that flash he knew this was going to be a longer day then he thought.

Time: 0921 Location: Side street in the warehouse district, Denver CO

Kate looked at the snow out the window again. It was coming down harder now and the choice of white Camo made more sense now. She looked at her phone again. What was taking so long? Where was Chuck? She knew she wasn't the first person to get called but this was crazy. She was just about to put away her phone when it lit up. "Hello Morgan." She said.

"Hay Kate, Jordan was grazed during the raid and Chuck is taking care of her. You have a green light for your mission." Morgan said tiredly.

"You've had to make that little speech a few time today haven't you?" She asked feeling sorry for him.

"Yeah, I'm starting to hate this job." He said smirking.

"Head up Morgan. You have work to do. We all do, and soon Chuck will be able to handle all to organization again." She said.

"Hey, you're right! I only have to make one more call." Morgan said excitedly.

"Hey! I was the second to last person you called? I thought we were friends Morgan!" She said indignantly.

"We are, I just had to call all of the more edgy people first. I know you've got a cool head on your shoulders so I knew I could let you go second to last. I had to call Sarah and Melissa first. They are way too high strung." He said.

"I knew it was something like that. It had to be." She said smiling. It was fun to play with Morgan. He was like a smaller Chuck. He was also kind of cute, but she knew better then to hunt on private property. Alex had Morgan locked down and he didn't even know it. Still it was fun to play with him. He was the Kelly doll to Chuck's Barbie.

"You know it. Good luck out there and stay safe." He said hanging up.

She put her phone away before looking at her driver. "That was the green light. Call it in and lets move out." She said pulling the mag out of her MP5 and checking it once more before ramming it home and dropping the charging handle. The four SUV's rolled down the block and around the corner staying within the speed limit. They broke up as they approached the warehouse with each SUV taking a side. Kate got out and was followed by a tall thin guy in tactical gear named Mike Sutton. They walked up to the drain pipe on the side of the building and one at a time they climbed up to the roof. Kate walked up to the skylight in the center of the roof and stuck a suction cup to the glass, with a glass cutter she cut the panel out of the window and had Mike hold the glass in place as she pulled out a black metal box on a rope. She tied the other end of the rope to the skylight frame. "What is that? Mike asked.

"It's a percussion bomb. Have you ever tried to fire a weapon with both of your ear drums blown out? It's very disorienting, or at least I hope it is." She said setting the box on the skylight. "Now go find somewhere to anchor the two lines." She said. Taking the glass pane in hand.

"Right. How much do you weigh?" He asked tossing a rope around the metal chimney stack.

"140." She said.

"Are you over estimating?" He asked looking at her thin frame even under the cold weather gear and tactical vest.

"I'm six foot tall moron, everything scales up when you get taller." She said giving him the two finger salute.

"Right." he said setting two rope bundles at her feet. "So what's next?" He asked.

"Next we start the party." She said letting go of the suction cup. The pane of glass fell thirty feet to the ground and the box on the rope stopped its fall at fifteen feet. As everyone in the warehouse turned to look at the box it exploded letting off a sound wave that smashed all of the windows and sent every agent in the building to their knees.

Kate tossed her rope down the hole for the window, clipped herself to the rope, and jumped down the hole. At ten feet she stopped her decent and brought her MP5 up looking for targets still standing. She saw a guy on the second floor pulling out a handgun. She shot him in the arm before looking for her next target. Mike dropped in next to her also looking for threats. At this point the other team members stormed the doors and stared talking prisoners. Turning to her left she saw a guy in the corner hiding behind a stack of boxes with an M4. She brought her gun up and shot him three times in the chest. Mike turned to her.

"I'd say your little box did the trick." He said smirking.

"You'd be surprised at the tricks my little box can do Sutton." She said winking at him as she slid down ten more feet.

Just as she stopped her decent she saw a guy on the second level pop up from behind a crate and shoot at Mike with his M4. Mike tried to shoot back but one of the bullets grazed his rope and it snapped. Mike fell. Kate took the second carabineer from her vest and clipped it on to Mikes vest as he fell past her, the short strap snapped tight at three feet and Mike found himself looking at Kate's boots. She swung her gun up and hit the man with a short burst to the chest dropping him. She then lowered them to the ground before the rope could snap. As soon as they were on the ground Mike wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her chest. "Um Mike?" She said trying to push him away.

"You saved my life." He said pulling back with a shocked look on his face.

"Yes well, I was there and you were close by." She said

"Still I think I owe you dinner after this is all over." Mike said smirking.

Kate just rolled her eyes but the smile on her lips said she wasn't opposed to the idea.

Time: 0722 Location: Blackhawk helicopter landing pad, Philadelphia, PA.

Alex was oddly calm, or at least her tactical team thought so. She spent the last half hour with a smile on her face. What they didn't know was how happy she was to be doing tactical assaults. She spent years trying to get on a tactical team and now was her chance to shine. Because of her size, most people underestimated her, but now she was going to get to throw down. She pulled her custom LWRC M6A2 CQB rifle out of storage for this mission and she planed on out shooting every one on her team. Her phone vibrated and she saw Morgan's face. She smirked as she answered. "Hey Morgan. How's your day going so far?" She asked.

"I think I love you for asking. I've been having a shit day so far. Jordan got hurt and Chuck is taking care of her so he put me in charge of making all the calls to the team. I hate being the guy to make this call. I feel responsible now if something goes bad. It's making me all stressed out and we haven't even hit our first target yet. What if I'm not good enough at this stuff? What if I'm not good at backing up Anna? What if I hesitate and someone gets killed because I can't shoot someone?" He asked feeling the panic of this morning creep back into his chest.

"Morgan, you have to calm down. You are going to do just fine out there. You know how I know? Because you never let your friends down. You always have their back. It's who you are Morgan. Just stick close to Anna, watch her back, and try to act without think too hard. Things happen fast Morgan. So fast that by the time you're heading to you're next target it will hit you that you were just in a fire fight. Keep calm and stay with Anna. She's one of the most veteran members on our team. She's been doing this a long time. She can get the job done all by herself. Your job is her protection. You're her sidekick today Morgan, and that's what you're the best at. Now tell me you love me again and hang up the phone. You have work to do sweetie. I'll see you soon." She said smiling.

"Your right. I have to keep her safe. It's my job. I love you Alex. See you soon." He said hanging up the phone. He looked back to the SUV and Saw Anna comforting Scott. She needed him to do his job so she could do hers.

Alex shut her phone off and pocketed it. "Okay everyone! We have a green light! Lets move out. I want to be done as fast as we can." She said waving the rest of her team into the Blackhawk.

The flight to the hotel was fast, just a quick hop across the expressway and a few miles of sparsely populated city outskirts. In minutes they were hovering over the Hotel Green Tree. Ten floors of junkies, fulcrum muscle, drug dealers, pimps and hookers. If ever there was a place to represent the pits of Hell this was it. The doors opened and the heavy ropes hit the roof. In seconds the team was on the roof.

Alex looked over the side of the building and Saw Philly SWAT hit the front doors. Right on time. A good hard kick to the door on the roof and they were in. Alex was at the front of the line as they descended the stairs and she caught sight of her first target. A gang banger with a Glock. Two shots to the chest dropped him like a sack of potatoes. At the bottom of the stairs her team split up with half of them taking different hallways and the other half moving down to the next floor. Alex and one of her tactical guys took the left hallway and started kicking in doors.

The first room she found a junky passed out on a dirty bed.

The next room had a naked hooker. A tranq dart put her out of commission.

The next room had two more bangers scrambling for their guns. Four quick shots and she was on to the next door. Empty room. As she approached the next door the one at the end of the hall flew open and a guy with an M4 came out only to fall to three shot from her and two from her partner.

Alex ran to the end of the hall, pulled a flash bang out and tossed it into the room. When it popped she rolled around the door frame and shot three more guys with M4s. This room looked clean and they had monitors set up to watch the rest of the rooms on the floor. Checking the monitors she saw the rest of the rooms were empty. "Lets head down this floor is clear, lets move on." She said leading him to the eight floor.

They started kicking in doors again. Junky. Hooker. Two bangers. A Fulcrum agent. Another hooker. Then came the room at the end of the hall. As soon as she walked closer to door bullets came flying through the wall causing her and her partner to drop to the ground. She crawled to the door and pulled her Black Water Sig226 out. She shot through the door three times and pulled her hand back. A hail of bullets riddled the door turning into Swiss cheese. She pulled a flash bang off her vest, spun around on the floor, kicked the door open, and tossed the grenade into the room. After the pop she crouched around the door frame and shot the two guys with M4's trying to get their bearings back.

Just as she was standing up a guy popped up from behind the bed and let off a burst of full auto. Alex ducked and shot him three times in the chest. Her partner looked at her. "Where the hell did that guy come from?" He asked.

"Hiding behind the bed. That fucker almost got me." She said shaking her head.

"I think I peed just a little bit when he popped up like that. It reminded me of training. Those pop up target." He said laughing.

"Tell me about it." she said laughing.

She reached down to pick up he rifle and felt pain in her leg. Looking down she saw she was bleeding. "Shit! He did get me!"

She pulled her knife out and cut her pants and saw it was only a graze. "Just a flesh wound. I'll stitch it up on the chopper ride to the docks. Right now lets keep going." She said pulling out a bandage.

"Are you sure? We can go on without you for the rest of this mission." Her partner asked.

"No, I'm fine, lets keep moving." She said picking up her rifle.

Time: 1023 Location: C130 above Le Paz, Mexico.

Vicky looked up when she saw the green light start to flash. She stood up and her team followed her. The flight crew guy came up to her. "We are one minute out." He said.

"Thanks for the heads up. Would you mind getting the door?" She said.

"I'd be happy to." He said clipping a safety rope to a loop on the wall. He pulled a lever and the big cargo ramp dropped down. Vicky and her SEAL team all walked to the edge of the ramp. Looking out at the bright sky above the clouds she got her first real look at how high they really were.

"You are good to go in thirty! Remember, don't pull your chute until you're under a thousand feet!" The crew guy called out before the alarm went off and he waved them out the door.

They all jumped at the same time and as one they tucked their arms and legs together and dropped straight down. In seconds they were past the clouds, from this high up everything looked like a topography map. Thirty more seconds and she could see the base. It was one brown square in the middle of the brown desert, if you didn't know it was there you wouldn't have seen it. She watched her team to see when to pull her chute but as the ground got closer and closer she started to lose her nerve. She put her hand on the rip cord as the base got bigger. Finally the team flattened out and pulled their rip cords. Vicky was proud to not be the first one to go after the team leader. She held out for a second longer. As they approached the base her team all brought their weapons up and started firing before they even landed.

Vicky, who was not very good at landing glided into an alley between the two hangers and cut her chute away as soon as her feet hit the ground. She brought her M4 up looking for targets and spotted a base guard with an M4, she dropped him with three shots to the chest before clearing right to left. She saw a door to the hanger so she slipped inside and saw two pilots running for the B1. She brought her weapon up and let off a short burst that dropped them both. She spun around and shot another guard with an M4. She cleared the rest of the hanger and ran out the big doors to see her team running up to the rally point where she was standing.

"Twenty two tangos down, and three captives. Awaiting orders Ma'am!" The team leader said.

"Good work boys. Who did you catch?" She asked.

"Two mechanics were working on one of the F-18 super hornets, and this third guy was hiding in a storage closet." The team leader said marching the two men, and one woman in zip ties forwards.

"Mechanics?" Vicky asked looking at the two men and one woman. She flashed on all of them. One of the two men was a mechanic, but the older man and young woman were not. She walk up to older man. "Captain William Hartman. Twenty three year veteran of the Navy Air wing, dishonorably discharged one year ago for beating a superior officer half dead over a difference of opinion, a crime that should have come with a jail sentence. How are you here working for Fulcrum, and why is your daughter here as well?" She asked.

"What's Fulcrum." Was the commanders question and form the look on his face he wasn't bluffing.

"Fulcrum is a secrete intelligence organization trying to bring down the government. It's also who you've been working for. Now can you kindly tell why the fuck you joined an organization hell bent on taking down the country you dedicated your life to protecting." Vicky said coldly. As she talked she watched his face go from confusion, to shock, to horror.

"I didn't, I mean I was told to come here. Orders! I was given orders to report here." He said looking at Vicky, he looked back to his daughter. "We were given orders to fly secret missions for the CIA!" He said looking like he was going into shock. He was holding up better then his daughter who was just standing there looking like she was going to toss her breakfast.

"Right. Team! Fuel up the B1 and make sure the Missile is secured on board. What other aircraft are in the hanger?" She asked.

"There are two F-18 super Hornets, two A-10 Warthogs, and a pair of AH-64 Apache longbows. There is also a full store of missiles and bombs." The team leader said.

"Right. I know two of you are pilots. Can you two fly the Warthogs?" She asked.

"We can ma'am." One of the two pilots said.

"And can any of you fly an Apache?" She asked.

"I can fly a chopper, I've never flown a Apache." One of the SeAL team members said.

"Good, any one else?" She asked looking at the assembled group.

"I can fly, I can't do anything else, like fire the weapons system, but I can fly one." The mechanic said.

"Right, gas them all up. We leave in an hour. Arm them all but one Apache." She said pulling a knife out of her boot. She cut the zip ties on the Mechanic wrists.

"I know who you are, Miguel Floras. Petty officer first class. Dishonorable discharged for running drugs. You should be in a brig somewhere right now. Instead you're working on a ghost crew in Mexico. If you ever step foot on a military base you'll never see the light of day again. However, if you follow orders, and fly the Apache back to Miramar air base I will have your charges dropped and pay you for the delivery of the chopper." She said.

"You have a deal." He said saluting her.

"You come with me. I want to hear every detail. You help them find anything they need." She said leading Will Hartman to a set of chairs set up in the hanger. "Start from the beginning."

"About a year ago we were running bombing and close air support missions off the U.S.S. Harry Truman parked in the Persian Golf. I got into a fight with this stick up his ass admiral because he was running us ragged and not giving the maintenance crews enough time to fix the aircraft between flights. Things were said he threw a punch at me, I hit him back and kept hitting him until the NCIS agent on board tossed me in the brig and then shipped me back to Ramsten Air Force base in Germany. I was tried, and dishonorably discharged. I was being tossed off the base when I was met by a guy in a black suit and sunglasses. He told me that I was not in fact discharged. That I was seconded to the CIA to run off the books missions in South America. I was put on a private jet and brought here. I was given missions by the CIA. Most of the targets were things like drug cartel compounds and drug processing labs. About six months ago my daughter sent me an E-mail saying she was being fucked with on the ship. Little things like her gear going missing or her bunk being messed with. It got worse over the next month until one day two sailors tried to rape her in the bathroom. She brought this all to the higher ups but the last authority on the matter was the same guy I beat up so he did shit to stop it. I talked to my contacts in the CIA and they had her reassigned to this place about four months ago. We get about three missions a week and depending on the type of mission we use different air craft, and different ordinance packages. Yesterday we hit a cartel compound on the Mexican/Texas border. We took the Hornets and hit the place with a few small tactical laser guided bombs." He said.

"And at no time did you think you were working for anyone but the CIA?" She asked feeling sorry for the guy.

"No. I mean I thought we might be getting work from other alphabet soup groups like the DEA, or ICE, but I never thought I was working for criminals. That we were criminals." He said looking green.

"Did you know that the B1 Lancer was part of a contingency plan to bomb a U.S. City?" She asked.

"Good God No! I was told it was back up in case we needed to hit a target in the middle of South America. Like Argentina or Chile. I swear to God almighty I thought we were working for you guys! Uncle Sam's covert war on drugs." He said.

"How have you been flying around all over Mexico without being shot down by the Mexican Government?" She asked.

"Our Handler said they bribed the guys working the radar system."

"So when we leave today and head for the U.S. boarder we won't encounter any problems?" She asked.

"No. They ignore anything that takes off or lands here. You guys could have probably landed a 747 on the run way and no one would have blinked an eye." He said waving at the runway out side.

"Good. I want to take all of the air craft back with us and bomb this base to erase any trace of it." She said.

"We can do that Ma'am. Can you talk to your bosses for us. We didn't know we were doing illegal shit. We thought we were working for the good guys still." He said.

"I'll fix it, but you might end up working for us in the future." She said.

"That's fine by me." He said looking less green and more regretful.


	30. Chapter 30

Time: 0717 Location: Warehouse next to the Potomac, VA

"Team leader is hit! Repeat Team leader is down! Call in the EMTs!" Sarah heard over her ear piece and her insides turned to ice. Team leader was Casey.

"Report! How bad is Team Leader hurt!?" She called over the radio as she ran for the middle of the warehouse.

"I'M NOT HURT! Get Off Me!" She heard over the radio as she rounded the stack of crates and saw Casey trying to stand up while an NSA Tactical guy was trying to keep him on the ground.

"Let him up!" She called out as she walked over. "What happened to you?" She asked looking Casey over for any sign of blood.

"I took two or three shots to the vest from my high right side and this fool threw me to the ground and started yapping about EMT's. He's lucky I don't break his neck for throwing me to the ground like that. Then he'll need the ambulance." Casey grunted out as he pushed past the two tactical guys and walked towards the exit.

When they were away from the crowd Sarah touched his arm. "John are you hurt?" She asked.

Casey was about to go off on another rant but then he saw the concern in her eyes and sighed. "I'm fine. Just a bit sore. I'll take care of it tomorrow. Now lets mount up and get to the next target location before they figure out one of their buildings was hit." He said walking to the SUV.

Time:1020 Location: Roark Industries, Los Angles CA

Chuck walked up to the door to the ambulance and watched as the EMT put the last few stitches in Jordan's side. "So give it to me straight Doc. Will she live?" He asked smirking.

"Yes, but she will need some bed rest. I suggest she stay off her feet for a few days." The EMT said bandaging up Jordan's side.

"You hear that young lady? No walking around for you." He said patting her hand.

"Chuck, I'm old enough to be your mother." Jordan said.

"And you look like it with your bandages, and limp. Now lets get you back to Castle. You can run the rest of the missions from there. You can do all the boring stuff." Chuck said helping her into his car which he pulled around after coordinating with NSA cleaners.

"Fine, but I'm not going to like it." She said getting in the passenger seat. She looked in the back seat and saw Roark's limp body. "Why is he in the car?" She asked.

"I'm taking him to an interrogation room back at Castle. Anna will have some questions for him. I think I'll work with Morgan to take down the Air field and leave Anna and Scott with you back at Castle. How does that sound?" Chuck asked driving slowly and avoiding bumps in the road.

"Like a good idea. I want to meet this Anna girl." Jordan said.

"Hay, be nice. She's a strong girl but she's also very fragile when it comes to emotional situations." Chuck said.

"I'm not going to hurt her, I just want to get to know her." Jordan said indignantly.

"Right. Just remember Scott really loves her. Just keep that thought in the back of your head." Chuck said smirking.

"No thanks to you, putting them together like that." She muttered.

"I heard that. You keep that muttering up and I'll make sure you don't get any fro-yo." Chuck said.

"Your no fun." She said sticking her tongue out at him. It was obvious the drugs had kicked in at this point.

Time:1040 Location: burning warehouse, Los Angles CA

Morgan ran into the warehouse. Everything was knocked over. The whole place was full of black smoke and there were small fires everywhere. "ANNA! ANNA!" He called out looking for her. She was one of only three people still inside when the building exploded. "ANNA! WHERE ARE YOU!?" He called out.

"Here!" came a weak reply from his left. Morgan ran to the office and found her under a table.

Morgan tossed the table aside and checked her over for injuries. "Are you hurt? Is anything broken?" He asked.

"No I think the table took most of the blast. I'm lucky I was in this room when the bomb went off. Help me up." She said coughing.

Morgan picked her up and carried her outside to the ambulance as fire fighters ran into the burning building. Scott was there and he freaked out when he saw Morgan carrying Anna

"What happened?" He asked.

"Some kind of bomb." Morgan said placing her on a gurney. As soon as he backed up two EMT's started checking her over.

"Is she hurt?" Scott asked in shock. This was the third hit to his system and it was starting to take it's toll on him. He looked like he was going to pass out any second now.

"I don't think so. They might want to take her to the hospital for some tests though. I've got to call Chuck." Morgan said patting Scott on the back before walking away. He pulled out his phone.

Chuck was just about to turn into the parking lot of the Buy More when his phone vibrated. He saw it was Morgan. That was not a good sign. "Morgan what's wrong?" He asked.

"We cleared the warehouse but during the clean up the building exploded. Anna was inside. She looks fine but they are taking her to the hospital to make sure." Morgan said.

"What hospital?" He asked.

"Ellie's hospital." Morgan said.

"Take Scott to the hospital with you and wait for us. We will be there in fifteen." Chuck said.

"I see you there." Morgan said hanging up. "Come on you can ride with her in the Ambulance. I'll follow in the Charger." Morgan said pushing him up into the ambulance. He pulled one of the EMT's aside. "He's in shock, give him something for it. I don't know how well he can handle a waiting room right now."

"I'll look him over on the way. Your other friend has a few cuts and a mild concussion but we want to run a few test on her to be sure." she said.

"Right, I'll follow you guys to the hospital." Morgan said running to the car.

Time: 0835 Location: room 619, run down Days Inn south loop, Chicago, IL

Melissa knocked on the door and a tall ruggedly handsome man opened the door. "Little Bunny?" He said pulling her into a huge hug.

"Tony! I've missed you so much!" She said smiling huge.

"My Little Bunny got so big! The NSA has really done a number on you little girl. Look at you now. I remember when you were all elbows and knees." He said holding her at arms length.

"Yes, well the FBI turned a big dumb jock into a man so anything is possible." Melissa said laughing. "You know my team mate Jenifer Daily." Melissa said pulling Jen closer. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jen blush.

"Yes, we've met. We've been setting up this op. for the last week." Anthony Barns said smiling a shy smile.

"Oh my God look at you two! Its soo cute!" Melissa said smirking at the two.

"Shut up Melissa!" Jen said blushing.

"Yeah, Bunny. Shut up. We have work to do." Tony said blushing and turning away from them to walk over to the bank of computer monitors he had set up.

"Fine, but later we're going to have to talk about this" Melissa said in a sing-song-y tone, and smiling a megawatt smile. She was super happy. Tony was her favorite cousin growing up. More like an older brother then a cousin. He lived a few houses away from her and he was very protective of her growing up. They went to the same schools. They were both a bit slow when it came to smarts but they were both very athletic. Baseball and softball in the summer. Football and hockey in the winter. Every year he was the MVP of the teams they played on, and she barely made the cut. They both left Chicago five years ago and now they were back home playing for two different teams. NSA and FBI. By the end of the day she hoped to change that. She was hoping to get Tony on the team and now she had even more motivation to do it. In the tree weeks she'd been working with Jenifer Daily she never saw her take a second look at anyone. Male or female. And now she was a blushing teen around Tony. This was going to be fun.

"Any movements since I checked in last night?" Jen asked walking over to the monitors.

"Not really. Johns and junkies come and go all day but the hookers, dealers and bangers stay. The Fulcrum agents come and go but during the day they mostly stay on the top two floors, and run building security. These two rooms at the end of the hall on this top floor house video surveillance. The four rooms next to them house what look like tactical response teams." Tony said calling up video feeds from the rooms as he talked.

"This is some really good work Tony. How did you do all of this?" Melissa asked.

"This scumbag hotel shares a wall with the one next door. During the night my team drilled through the wall and ran the fiber optic cameras. We've been watching them for three days." Tony said.

"Awesome!" Melissa said.

"Yes it is. I wish we could do this with the other target locations." Jen said watching the monitors. "Is your team in place?" Jen asked.

"They are. When we get into place with your team I'll call in the green light and they'll hit the lobby and start from the ground floor." He said smirking.

"And what is our entry point?" Melissa asked. The other two shared and smirk and laughed. "What? What's the entry point?" Melissa asked.

"Well," Tony said smiling. "Since the two hotels share a brick wall I figured we could blow the wall connecting the two and storm the hotel from the tactical room." Tony said.

"We get to use explosives again?" Melissa asked excitedly.

"I thought you might like this plan." Jen said smiling.

"Your Damn right I do! Lets go do this!" Melissa said pulling her vest out of the duffle bag she was carrying. Jen and Tony shared a laugh.

Five minutes later Melissa, Jenifer, and Tony were stacked up outside the door to room 624 with the NSA tactical team standing by room 622. "Are we all ready?" Tony asked.

"We are all good to go. Hit the button." Melissa said excitedly.

"I will, but after this we are going to have to talk about your love of blowing things up." Tony said pointing at her with the detonator.

"Just hit the button will you , Lover boy." She said winking at him.

"Smart ass." Tony mumbled hitting the button. Both hotels rocked and dusty smoke came wafting out from under the door. Tony pulled down his gas mask and opened the door.

As one they ran into the room and split up taking out targets as they cleared from room to room. Melissa kicked open a door at the end of the hall and shot the two agents scrambling for their guns. "Man I live this job." She said to herself as she moved on to the next room. She saw Jen and Tony working together clearing rooms on the other side of the hall and smirked. They were defiantly going to need to bring Tony on to the team. She was sure she could talk Chuck into it.

Time: 0738 Location: Blackhawk over a hotel Brooklyn, NY

"Alright people lets move!" Sam said tossing open the side door and kicking the rope out. She was the first one to slide down and she scanned the roof as her team dropped down to the roof behind her. When Rick tapped her on the shoulder she ran to the door and kicked it open letting Rick take point down the stairs. In seconds she was in a firefight with gang bangers and Fulcrum agents using the doorways as cover. It looked like the NYPD SWAT jumped the gun and went early casing the scum to flee up stairs and into the middle of the gun fight going on. Sam darted into an empty room and found a connecting door to the room next door. She kicked it in and shot the two bangers in the room. "Tac1 on Me!" She called out as she went for the next door. She kicked it in and frond a Fulcrum agent trying to reload his M4. She dropped him and went for the next door only to get thrown back by the blast of an explosion. She sat up and saw nothing but carnage in the room she was headed.

"You okay?" Hill asked.

"Yeah, what the hell was that?" She asked as he helped her up.

"I think one of the Fulcrum guys pulled the pin on a grenade and dropped it when he got shot. Rick's making his way through the room just like you." Hill said.

"This is going to take a long fucking time." Sam said tagging a guy running across the hall with a Glock in his hand.

Time: 1039 Location: Highway heading west out of Austen, TX

Roy Dobbs' day was just getting worse and worse. For reasons he didn't understand he was sitting in the passenger seat of his own Bronco with the crazy one behind the wheel. He didn't know how she talked him into driving or how she got his keys but here they were headed to the next, and thankfully last bust. After this he never had to see her face again. In fact after this day was over he was going to use the vacations days he had saved up and take a trip out to his cabin in the woods. He didn't want to see people or action after this for at lest a few weeks.

"Why the long face Ranger Dobbs?" Carina asked with a big smile on her face.

"Just thinking about what I'm going to do after this day is over." He said.

"Have you ever thought about not being a Ranger? Maybe working on a team that did more then track down murderers and drug runners?" She asked.

"Are you offering me a job? Because if I have to work with you the answer is no." He said shaking his head.

"Oh come on! I'm not that bad! I'm a lot of fun." She said running her hand up his leg.

Time: 0740 Location: office building, 21st floor, Boston, MA

Steven Snow lead half of his team up the stairway on south side of the building from the 19th floor. From the feed they jacked two days ago it looked like the Fulcrum guys were still unaware they were coming. Steven stacked up on the door with his team and waited a few seconds for the other half of the team to call in the ready. A kick to the door, three flash bangs and ten seconds of gun fire and the six agents guarding the computer geeks were down. With a few hand gestures the team spread out and started rounding up the geeks. In four minutes they were all lined up against the wall, zip tied, and ready for transfer to the FBI field office for holding. Steven looked at the line of captives and nodded. This was how a tactical assault was supposed to go. He hoped the other teams were having as much luck as he was. At this rate he would be available to assist one of the other teams in an hour. "Lets call our Federal friends to come pick these guys up so we can keep this show moving along." He said and two of his guys pulled out their radios and called for transport.

Time: 0941 Location: office building, 6th floor, Denver CO

This was going to be easy she thought as she stacked up on the door with her team. Six targets, twenty six computer annalists. Easy. That thought flew out the window as soon as the door was kicked in. The first two guys through the door took a hailstorm of bullets. A second later bullets came flying through the wall causing the team to drop to the floor. Kate didn't know what to do for a second as the plan she had was now gone. That's when she saw the stamped of people coming down the stairs. "Mike, take a guy and hold those people back up stairs!" She yelled. She lifted up to look through one of the bullet holes and saw six Agents in tactical gear hiding behind a wall of knocked over tables and desks. She also saw the Annalists hiding in a back room. Using hand signals she backed her team down the stairs and pulled out a canister from her vest. From the canister she pulled out ten feet of det. cord she made a ruff doorway and light the fuse before running up the stairs. The det. cord cut through the wall. Kate ran at the hole in the wall pulling flash bangs off her vest she ran right at the wall of desks, dropped to her knees, slid across the floor, came to a stop with her back to the wall and tossed the two flash bangs over it. She tucked her head between her legs right before they went off. She popped up with her MP5 and sprayed the six tactical agents with all thirty rounds. When her mag was empty she dropped her MP5 and pulled her USP compact and looked at the six waiting for one of them to make a move. "Team on me!" She called out. Watching the door to the back room. "Mike, let those people out now!" She called out. When her team lined up next to her she called out, "Everyone in the back room come out with your hands up! If you have a weapon toss it before coming out. If any of you try anything I will have my team execute all of you. I'm in no mode to fuck around!" She yelled.

In seconds all of the computer geeks were standing in a line with their hands up. "Check them and zip tie them up for transport." She said. She stopped Mike. "Did we lose our two guys?" She asked softly.

"Dead." Mike said.

"Shite! I didn't want to lose anyone today." She said looking sad and sick at the same time.

"Come with me." Mike said taking her hand and pulling her out into the hall. "You didn't lose anyone. They got killed doing their job. They were first through the door. It happens." Mike said.

"I should have been first through the door." Kate said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"You're in charge of the mission. You're supposed to be the last one through the door." Mike said.

"Chuck would have been the first one through the door." She said.

"And Chuck would have been shot and killed. Then what? Who's going to run the mission? Get your head out of your ass and think like an agent. We do a dangerous job. Sometimes we get shot. Sometimes we die. This was the last mission in Denver. Lest finish up the clean up and head to the air field. We could get called in to work with another team." Mike said patting her on the back.

"You're right." Kate said wiping her eyes. "I need to get my head back in the game." She said. "Thanks for talking me through this." She said.

"It's what I'm here for. Besides, we have a date later and I have to keep you alive until then." Mike said smiling.

Time:1055 Location: Hospital, Los Angles CA

Chuck and Jordan walked through the doors to the ER and saw Morgan and Scott sitting in the waiting room. Jordan ran up to Scott and hugged him. "Jordan! Your stitches. Sit down." Chuck said shaking his head as he pulled Morgan into a hug. "Hey little buddy, how did it go out there today?" He asked pulling him off to the side of the room.

"Bad Chuck. Real bad. I shot two people, I let Anna get hurt and I froze up when the action first started. I let you down." Morgan said losing his fight with his tears and letting them flow.

"Hey! You didn't let me down. You did a good job. You always do. You're the most reliable man I know. We all freeze up the first time we get into a gun fight. It happens to us all. The first time I got shot at I pissed myself just I little bit and went catatonic. As for letting Anna get hurt, that's just crazy talk. Anna had a job to do. She got hurt doing it. If anyone should feel bad about her getting hurt it should be me. I gave her the assignment. I ordered her to hit that warehouse. You watched her back and when the building blew up where were you?" Chuck asked.

"Out side tossing my guts up." Morgan said waiting for Chuck to yell at him.

"And you ran into the burning building to get her out didn't you?" Chuck asked.

"How did you know?" Morgan asked looking shocked.

"Because it's what I expect from you. It's why I wanted you on the team. You're a lot like Casey you know? For your family you'd storm the gates of hell. Your job is not to be the guy that gets blown up. Your job is to be the guy that runs into a burning building to get that guy out. Today it was Anna. And you know what? She's alive because you risked your life to go into that building and get her out. A lot of guys would have stood outside and waited for the Fire trucks, but you ran in and got her out." Chuck said looking Morgan in the eye.

"But I killed two people today. Dead. I feel dirty." Morgan said looking a little green.

"And I killed 276 people today!" Chuck said. "Men and women, 250 of them didn't even get the chance to fight back. I slaughtered them. Does that make me a monster?" Chuck asked.

"No. Those were very bad guys. I saw the list. " Morgan said.

"And the same can be said about you're two. You can't think about them as people. Not really. They are the enemy. Bad guys. Men and women that would take pleasure in gutting you. Enemies of the State. Traitors to this country and it's people. Today I put you in a kill or be killed situation Morgan. And today you killed. You are a killer now Morgan. Just like everyone else on the team. We all deal with that fact in different ways. I can't say you won't be effected by it. You should be. You took a life, but you have to deal with that, and then you have to move on. If you want to play in this world you have to make choices. Sometimes those choices are easy ones. Sometimes they're complicated. Every time I make the choice to kill someone. I try to off set that choice by making another one. I try being a better man to the people around me. Work harder for them. Try to look after them. That's what I do. It's the way I deal with it. We all do different things. I know Sarah takes showers. She doesn't think I know but I do. She stands under the hot water until it runs cold. She does it to feel clean again. Melissa gets quite and thoughtful, and when she thinks no one is looking, she prays. Casey drinks alone in the dark. We all kill, and we all try to make pennants for it. You should talk to Alex. She has a few years in the business. The same thing can be said for Anna. I put you with those two for a reason. One of them likes you and the other one will look after you. It's the same situation I was put in when I first started this game two years ago. Sarah took care of my feelings and Casey protected me." Chuck said.

"I understand, Chuck I do, it's just. I never thought I'd…" Morgan trailed off.

"Never thought you'd have to kill. To tell you the truth I kind of hoped you'd never have to. The fact that you feel torn up about it means you're a good man. The day you stop feeling anything is the day you have to worry. It means you're dead inside." Chuck said. They heard a crash down the hall and a string of Russian swear words. "Speaking of our little Russian." Chuck said running down the hall to find the source of the commotion. He spotted Anna trying to fend off the two doctors with a try while trying to put on her paints.

"ANNA SIT DOWN!" Chuck yelled in Russian. Anna dropped the try and sat on the bed. "Good," Chuck said switching back to English. "Now what the hell is going on in here?" Chuck asked coming into the room.

"I told them I don't need to be here. I have work to do." Anna said.

"Don't worry about that right now." Chuck said coming up to her and putting his hand on her shoulder. He turned to the doctor. "What's wrong with her doc?"

"She has two cracked ribs, a mild concussion, and a huge bruise covering most of her body. She needs bed rest. I don't know how she's even able to stand right now." The doctor said.

Chuck looked at Anna. He saw the look in her eye. It was the same caged look she had when they first met her in the alley. "Can she rest at home? Does she need to be in the hospital for any reason?" Chuck asked.

"Not really but she does need to be monitored. She needs to be in bed but she can't fall asleep." The doctor said.

"If she was looked after at home could she be checked out?" Chuck asked holding Anna around the shoulders.

"I would like to bandage her ribs and run another X-ray to check for other fractures. Aside from that I don't see why she needs to be here."

"She will cooperate with you." Chuck said getting a dirty look from Anna. "Don't give me that look young lady. You will follow the doctors orders and then you can go back to Castle to rest. We all love you and want to make sure you're okay." Chuck said holding her gently.

"What about the second mission?" She asked.

"I'll take care of it. You will rest. That's an order." Chuck said. He pulled the two doctors out of the room. "I need to talk to her for a few minute then you can run whatever tests you need to." Chuck said shutting the door. He came back to her and sat on the bed. "I was going to give you this later but I figured now was a good time." Chuck said pulling out a black little box. Anna opened it to find a small white angel with gold CA inlay. "Tungsten, the hardest metal in the world. You are my strongest Angel. Bulletproof. But even my strong Angel needs to take time off. She needs to take care of herself because we all love her very much and we want to keep her around." He said clipping the thin gold chain around her neck.

"I am honored." She said looking misty eyed.

"And so am I. You're a very important member of the team Anna, and more importantly, you're family. Now I'll leave you to the Rodgers. Scott will drive you and Jordan back to Castle when you're done getting checked out. Then I want you to rest." Chuck said.

"But I don't want to rest. I hate being bed ridded." She said.

"Then you can sit in the observation room and study Roark for me. Find his weak spot. After the raid on the air field I'm going to need to break him fast. I need to know what the site in the Nevada desert is." Chuck said.

"I will find his weakness and tell you how to break him." She said coldly.

"I know you will. You're my hard Angel after all. My go to girl for breaking people. Don't work too hard. I want you to rest. I know you've been hurt worse in the past but now you have a family to look after you. You have to let them." He said kissing her on the top of the head.

"I will." She said blushing.

"That's my girl." Chuck said smiling as he walked out of the room.

Chuck waved the two doctors in before walking down the hall to the waiting room. "She will be fine. They want to run a few tests and bandage her up a bit, but after that we can take her back to Castle." Chuck said making everyone relax. "Morgan, where is the rest of your tactical team?" He asked.

"They should be waiting for me at the staging area a few miles from the airfield." Morgan said.

"Right. You have your vest and weapon in the car you came in?" Chuck asked.

"I do." Morgan said holding up the keys to the Charger.

"Good, me and you are going to finish things here in L.A. and then head back to Castle to act as stand by. Scott, this is a key to my BMW M5. It's parked in the lot. When the doctors are done with Anna I need you to drive them both back to Castle." He said tossing him the key. "Jordan can you handle any calls that come through Castle until I get back?" He asked.

"I can." She said.

"Good. Lets go little Buddy. Me and you are going to take care of business." Chuck said slinging his arm around Morgan.

After a quick stop off at his BMW for his bag they drove out to the staging area a mile away from the small private airfield. Chuck got out and waited for Morgan to take the lead with the six remaining team members. Morgan took a second to gather his thoughts before he got out and walked confidently over to the group. "Bud, are we all set for this?" He asked the team leader.

"We are. Do you have any word on how the rest of the team is doing?" The big man asked.

"Chris' leg wound is stitched up and he should be fine. Anna took a beating but she's okay. As for the other three… none of them made it." Morgan said looking cold.

"Shit." Bud said and the rest of the team nodded.

"Sums it up nicely, but we can't deal with that right now. We have just one more target to hit and then we can deal with that." Morgan said walking over to the map of the airport laid out on the hood of one of the SUVs.

"You're right, let's take care of this." Bud said coming to stand next to Morgan. "As it stands we are short five shooters. I don't think we should take both SUVs." Bud said.

"I do, I'll drive the first one with Chuck, Travers and Cole riding the skids. You take the rest of the men in the second SUV. There should be about ten people watching the hangers. When we hit the gate I will take the first hanger I want you to take the second. I want this airfield secured and ready for use in case we need it." Morgan said pointing to the map.

"Yes sir!" Bud said waving the men into place.

Chuck smiled at his little friend's commanding voice. Chuck strapped on his vest and tossed his jacket in the car. Because he was going to be riding the skids on the side of the car he slung his MP5 over his shoulder and pulled out his Sig. He saw Morgan hop into the driver's seat of the lead SUV and ran over to join him. "You ready for this?" he asked low enough so no one else heard him.

"I am. I want you to ride the driver's side if you don't mind?" He said starting the engine.

"Where else would I be?" Chuck asked planting his feet on the skid and grabbing the roof bar.

"Okay team lets do this and be ready for what comes next!" Morgan called out as he pulled out of the lot and onto the access road for the tiny airport. Up ahead was the gate and it was halfway sliding shut. "Chuck can you do something about the gate?" Morgan asked.

"Let's see?" Chuck said aiming at the gears of the gate box. He prayed this would work before shooting the box six times. The first few shots did nothing but the rest of them destroyed the box and stopped the gate. Two guards ran out of the guard booth with M4s. Chuck put two in each of them dropping the two before they could bring this guns up. Morgan aimed for the center of the opening and just cleared Chuck's ass.

He rolled onto the runway and up to the first hanger. Before the SUV even came to a full stop Chuck jumped off and brought his MP5 up to shoot a guard standing in front of the hanger. Running into the hanger with Travers and Cole behind him. Covering the hanger door and sweeping right to left he spotted another guard running to the G6 parked in the hanger from a side door. Taking aim he shot him in the shoulder, sending him to the ground. Chuck ran up to his and kicked the Glock out of his hand. "Zip tie him." He said as he ran to the door at the back of the hanger. Setting up next to the door he checked the little window and saw three men scrambling for the guns in a locker. Kicking in the door they all turned around. Chuck shot each one in the collar bone. "How many people work here?" Chuck asked. He got no response. He walked over to the closest guy and stepped on his shoulder wound. The man cried out in pain. "Now I'll ask one more time, and only one more time, How Many People Work Here? If you don't talk I'll shot you in the other shoulder." Chuck said shouldering his gun.

"Twelve! Two guards at the gate. Two guards per hanger. Three pilots, and the tree of us in this office." The guy said.

"Twelve? You're sure? Because if I find a thirteenth guy walking around I'm coming back here to teach you how to count. You understand me?" Chuck asked in a tone that made it quite clear what that lesson would be.

"Twelve. I swear!" He said close to pissing himself.

"Okay then." Chuck said. He turned around to see Morgan come through the door. "Zip tie these guys up will you?" He said turning to leave. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the men reach for a gun. Spinning around he put two shots in his chest. "ANYONE ELSE WANT TO TRY SOMETHING!?" Chuck yelled. He got two head shakes and a look of fear and respect out of Morgan. "Tie those two up and call for the EMTs. I'm going to check on the rest of the team." Chuck said walking out.

Time: 0757 Location: Office building on K Street Washington D.C.

Sarah looked at the line of prisoners being marched out of the building. 41 from the tenth floor and 26 from the twelfth floor. 68 in total. All of them hackers or former CIA assets. They were being guarded by twelve agents, all of them were dead now. She flashed on a teenaged girl, Carolina Ross, 19 years old. Wanted for computer hacking, convicted of money laundering, she was supposed to be serving a three year sentence in jail. Sarah blinked and rubbed her forehead. "Head hurting Walker?" Casey asked from behind her.

"Killing me. I have no idea how Chuck does it, each flash feels like a hot knife stabbing me in the brain." She said.

"Tell me about it." He said popping two more Advil.

"How's the chest John?" She asked.

"Fine, after this day is over I'll take a few days off to deal with the bruising." He said rubbing his chest under his vest.

"What's next after this?" She asked as the last few people were being loaded onto the bus.

"I think it's the docks and the connected warehouse." He said.

"Lets get to it then." She said walking to the SUV.

"Maybe we can get reinforcements at some point. Snow has to be done by now." Casey said.


	31. Chapter 31

Time: 1120 Location: Castle

Chuck and Morgan walked in and found Scott and his mother sitting at the table talking in hushed whispers. Both of them looked emotionally raw and both had red puffy eyes. Chuck turned to Morgan. "Put a call out to all of the teams and find out how things are going please?" He asked.

"Chuck, I'd really like it if you did that." He said looking down.

"Okay?" Chuck said looking confused.

"It's just, I don't know if I can talk to the teams again. I gave them the go order a few hours ago and I feel responsible for the them now. I don't know if I can sit through a sit. Rep." He said.

"Hey, little buddy, you keep your head up. You did a really good job today. Can you go reload our gear. We might need it again tonight. After that go find Anna and make sure she's not doing anything. She needs to rest." He said patting him on the back.

"I can do that." He said taking Chuck's bag with a big smile.

When he walked away Chuck turned to the two seated at the table. "Are you two okay?" He asked.

"I don't know." Scott said looking up at him.

"I think we will be. We just need time." Jordan said taking Scott's hand.

"Good. Did you talk about everything?" He asked.

"We did." Jordan said looking sad.

"Good. Scott needs to be told everything. He's a member of this family after all." He said putting his hands on her shoulders. "And as a member of the family he needs to start working." Chuck said smirking. "You still have the key to my car?" He asked.

"I do. Here." Her said tossing Chuck the key.

"No. Keep it." He said tossing it back. "Go get a bunch of buggers and shakes. No one has eaten since breakfast and we have a team of tactical guys sitting upstairs waiting on orders." Chuck said.

Scott hopped up. "I can do that." He said grabbing his jacket. "Was there someplace you wanted the buggers from?" He asked.

"Surprise me, but if you bring a veggy burger I won't be held responsible for my actions." Chuck said walking with him up the stairs. At the top Chuck slug his arm over his shoulder. "Welcome to the family Scott, we might not be all sane, but we do look after each other." He said. "I want you to know Roark will suffer ever minute of the rest of his very short life for the things he did to your mother. The man had my father killed too. Anna is right now studying him. Watching his every move and every look. She will know how he ticks in a half an hour and after that he will never know peace. He will only know fear and pain. I can promise you that." Chuck said in a cold voice that made Scott rethink his opinion of Chuck.

"Thank you." Scott said.

"It's what family does for family." Chuck said patting him on the back and sending him out. He walked down to see Jordan on the phone.

"He's right here hold on." She said holding out the phone. "It's your wife Chuck." She said.

"Hello sweetie, how's things going on your end?" He asked.

"Just great Chuck. Remind me to kill you when I get home." She said in a grumpy voice.

"What did I do now?" Chuck asked.

"You put this Intersect in my head and every time I flash it hurts." She said rubbing her head.

"Oh, that just means you're tired. Try taking a nap. Even if it's a few minutes the pain will go away. That used to happen a lot in the beginning when I was working at the Buy More and I was working cases with you guys. It's why I sleep in the break room before a mission. It helps. Until then wear some shades and you won't flash on anything visual without really trying to." Chuck said.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place!" Sarah said pulling out her sunglasses.

"I thought I told you all of this stuff. If not I'm sorry. It must have slipped my mind with all the mission planning and team building, not to mention the crafting of individual Intersect downloads for everyone." Chuck said sarcastically.

"Right." Sarah said blushing. "I'm sorry. It's just I've never had a headache like this before." She said.

"I get it. Aside from the headache is everything going good?" He asked.

"Yes and no. Me and Casey are pooped and our team is running low on energy. We just took the docks and the warehouse. We still have three targets to go. We would love some help taking the rest of the targets." She said.

"I'll call Snow and see if he and his team is done yet. If they are then I'll send them to you. Have a few cars waiting to pick them up. I'll let you know. Aside from that how are things going?" He asked.

"Good. So far Casey sustained the only bad injury. He took two in the vest. Nothing broken but he will be sore for a while." She said.

"Good. I'm going to send you help. I'm also going to send Alex to New York if she's wrapped up her three targets. Call me if you run into any trouble, or if you need anything." He said.

"I will. Thank you Chuck. I love you." She said.

"I love you too." He said before hanging up. He tossed Jordan the phone. "Get Major Snow on the line and route him to D.C. and send Alex to New York. I need to go check on Anna." He said.

"What about the other teams?" She asked looking up Snow's number.

"Touch base with Melissa and see if they need any help. If they do send Kate or Carina. Which ever one is done. Tell the other they're on stand by until I can get some answers out of Roark." He said coldly as he walked away.

Chuck walked down the hall and saw Roark in an interrogation room what confused him was Anna beating the crap out of him. He ran into the room and picked her up. He put her down in the hall and looked at her with a demanding stare.

"What?" She asked looking guilty.

"What? What? You were told to rest! You were told to take it easy. I told you to watch him. I did not tell you to start the questioning!" He said in a fear fueled rage.

Anna flinched away and got small. "I'm sorry." She said softly.

Chuck grabbed her in a hug making sure not to squeeze her too hard. "I know. I also know you wouldn't disobey me unless you found something." He said softly before kissing the top of her head. "I'm sorry I yelled." He whispered.

"It's okay. I understand." She said smiling.

"What did you find?" he asked turning to look into the room at a beaten Ted Roark.

"He tried to play tough guy. He thought he could talk his way out before you got here. He's very afraid of you. I could see he was clinging to his lost power so I broke him of the idea he was going to get out or even talk his way out. I beat him and asked no questions. He's crapping himself right now. He will tell you anything to make the ass kicking I was giving him stop." She said.

"Good. Now it's my turn and he's defiantly not going to like me." Chuck said coldly.

"NO!" She said grabbing him and making him look at her. "You can't go into that room mad. If you do you'll make him collapse into himself out of fear. You need a calm center before you go in that room." She said.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes. You can't push too hard or he'll crack. He's not trained in being tortured. He will talk with just the threat of violence now. That was the point of me going in first."

"Okay." Chuck said taking a deep breath. He let it out and relaxed into his Mad Dog persona. He pulled his gun out of his pants and handed it to her. "Hold this." He said before walking into the room.

The second Roark saw him the color drained from his face. "Chuck I'll talk! I'll tell you everything you want to know! I swear I will. I'll tell you everything. Just please don't hurt me! Please!" he rambled in panic.

"Just shut up!" Chuck said grabbing him by his shirt and hurling him out of his seat. "Why should I believe you?" Chuck asked.

"Because I know where your parents are!" He said shaking.

"What?" Chuck asked coldly.

"I have them! Both of them! I know who you are!" He said.

"I told you who I am." Chuck said.

"No, before that! I always knew who you were! I've been keeping tabs on you and your sister. I knew you were Steven's son the first time I saw you walk into Roark Tower. I knew it was you. I figured they recruited you like they did your mother." Roark said.

"What?" Chuck said feeling numb inside. Anna ran into the room and pulled Chuck out.

"Jordan!" She called out as she walked Chuck into the observation room.

"What happened?" Jordan asked running down the hall.

"We have a problem. Roark knew Chuck was Chuck but he didn't know he was working undercover. He said he has Chuck's parents. I have to go get the rest out of him. I think Chuck's in shock. Watch him until I can get the full story." Anna said holding Chuck's pale face in her hands.

"I got him, you find out what's going on." Jordan said sitting on Chuck lap and holding him as he looked lost.

"Da." Anna said slipping into Russian. She ran into the room and slammed Roark into the wall. "Talk! And if you say something I don't like I'll cut out you're balls and feed them to you!" She said pulling out a switch blade and holding it to his junk.

"A long time ago Chuck's father Steven and I worked on the Intersect project together. When the government lost interest I kept up the research and kidnapped Mary Frost, Chuck's mother to make Steven work for me. I used them both. Him to build the intersect and her to train my operatives. This worked well until about six years ago when Steven fried his brain with the intersect. Now he's little more than a vegetable. I used the threat of hurting him and her kids to keep Frost working for me. She trains my hit men. I have both of them in an underground bunker in the desert." Ted said quickly.

"You will tell me everything about the bunker. You will not leave out any detail." Anna said throwing him back down into his chair.

In the observation room Chuck was starting to get the feeling back in his body. "Are you okay Chuck?" Jordan asked holding his head to her chest.

"I think so? Did he say he has them in a bunker?" Chuck asked.

"He did. Now we know what's in the bunker." Jordan said.

"I have to get in there." Chuck said standing up but Jordan stopped him.

"No, let her do this. Even injured she's ten times the interrogator you are. Let her get all the facts. We are going to have to hit this bunker tonight. I need you to just listen and flash on as much stuff as you can." Jordan said getting up to stand with him.

"The bunker was an old Army left over from the Manhattan project days. I bought it in the 80's and rebuilt it to be an underground military base to house the first Fulcrum Operations teams. After we got bigger I had them transferred out and I had an NSA expert on Secure holding bunkers come in and refit it to hold Assets and prisoners. We even found a few comfort girls for the assets. It's how we turned NSA and CIA assets into Fulcrum assets." He said with a smile.

Anna elbowed him in the ribs. "What is the security like?" She asked. "And the next time you smile I'll fuck you up so bad they won't be able to identify your croups." She added in a tone that spoke of the countless people she killed before.

"I understand." He said nodding. "Security is light because it's out in the middle of nowhere. I think there are ten guards, five agents and a light staff like cooks, maids and girls." He said.

"You think?" She asked coldly.

"I don't know for sure. I don't really handle that place full-time. I have department heads for this kind of stuff. My office computer at R.I. has everything on it. Password is fulcrum command. I'm willing to work with you. Tell you everything I know. Just don't hurt me." He said letting the fear get to him.

Chuck knocked on the glass. "I have to go talk to my boss now. You sit here and think about anything that might be useful to us. If the information is good I might let you live." She said. As soon as she got into the observation room she started to sway.

Chuck picked her up and took her to a holding cell. He set her on the bed. "Are you okay? This is why I didn't want you in the room. You're hurt!" He said checking her eyes, for what he didn't know, but he knew that's what you did when someone had a brain injury.

"I'm fine Chuck, stop that." She said batting his hands away. "We need to look at his computer and I need to get back in that room. I have him talking now, I can't stop. He'll clam up." She said trying to stand up but Jordan held her down.

"No, I'll do it. I can play off the power reversal and keep him off his game that way." Jordan said.

"Do you think you can be in the same room with him?" Anna asked.

"I can." She said looking ready.

"Okay. He's favoring his left side, I think he has a sprained wrist. Also he's not breathing well with the broken nose. You might want to reset it when you want to cause some pain. It will help later when I'm ready for round two." She said with a dark smile.

"No! no round two. No round anything young lady! You will stay in bed and rest." Chuck said.

"But Chuck!" She said.

"No! I'm letting you stay at Castle, but if you push things with me I'll have Scott take you back to your hotel room." Chuck said in a voice that called out to the part of Anna that longed for a family. For a father that didn't touch her or beat her.

"Okay." She said letting her Russian accent out.

"Good girl." He said brushing the hair off her forehead. "When Scott gets back I'll send him in here to stay with you. He's a little tense after this morning and I think we need to keep him busy or he might freak out on us. Can you do that for me? Watch him I mean?" He said.

"I can keep him busy." She said blushing.

"Not that! Besides the adrenalin will wear off after he eats. I think you'll be happy with some cuddling if your lucky." Chuck said smirking. Before he pulled Jordan out of the room.

"There you go again manipulating that girl to be with my son." Jordan said shaking her head.

"You say manipulation. I call it match making. The two need each other. She needs a normal guy that won't hurt her and he needs someone as perfect as his mother. You did kind of set the bar high when he was growing up." Chuck said putting his arm around her.

"Turn down the charm Carmichael. It's not going to work on me." She said boxing him on the back of the head.

"Right." Chuck said pretending to be hurt. "Now I need to run back to R.I. and dump his computer." Chuck said grabbing his gun off the desk. "I'll be back in a half hour. In that time see if you can get him to tell us anything more. I'll call Carina, Kate, and her team and send then to Nevada." He spotted Morgan walking down the hall with the two bags. "Right on time." He said taking his bag "Stay with Anna until Scott gets back. Keep her company. I'll be back in a little bit with intel."

Time: 1055 Location: Drug processing lab, East of Austin, TX.

Carina was watching as Roy Dobbs lamented the death of his 1973 Ford Bronco. A part of her wanted to laugh at him for whining over car full of bullet holes, but a small part of her, the voice in the back of her head that sounded like a combination of Chuck and Sarah told her that she should apologies for killing his truck. She knew deep down that voice was right, but she didn't know how to say she was sorry. She never really had to say the words before. She patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure my boss can get you another Bronco and I'm betting he'll throw in a big check too. He's a good guy like that." She said.

"Don't touch me evil woman!" He said batting her hand away as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Okay! I'm just trying to tell you I can fix this. I just have to make one phone call to my boss." She said waving her iPhone. It lit up. "Speak of the Devil!" She said. "Hey Chucky!"

"Cut the crap Henson I need you to listen very carefully." Chuck barked as he weaved through traffic on his way back to R.I.

Carina's smile dropped. "Sorry Chuck. What can I do for you?" She asked without a hint of joking in her voice.

"No I'm sorry Carina. I'm having a really shitty day so far and I just figured out Roark has my parents, alive and in that bunker in Nevada. I need you to get to that air strip you landed at a few days ago. I'm sending a Jet to take you to Nevada. I'll meet you at the staging ground with whatever guys I can gather as soon as I can." Chuck said feeling the weight of the day settle on his shoulders.

"I can do that Chuck. I'm headed there right now." She said flagging down one of the patrol cars.

"Thank you Carina. I'll see you soon." He said hanging up.

"I need to barrow your car." She said flashing the officer a sexy smile.

"Oh no you Don't! You are not driving another thing in this state! Not while I can still draw breath!" Dobbs yelled as he ran over.

"Well I need to get to the airport. So either I barrow a car or you drive me but I need to catch a plane." She said.

"Your leaving the state?" He asked with hope in his voice.

"I need to be on a plane to Vegas in the in the next half hour." She said looking at her watch.

"I'll take you. I want to watch you get on the plane. I want to make sure you leave." He said getting behind the wheel.

"You say that now but you'll miss me when I'm gone." She said getting in next to him.

"I can promise you I won't. you are by far the biggest pain in the ass I've ever met." He said flooring it down the street with the lights and sirens blaring.

"If you keep saying things like that you'll make me think you don't like me." She said pinching his cheek.

"I'm pretty sure I hate you." He said.

"They all say that." She said smirking.

Time: 1055 Location: Small airstrip, South of Denver, CO.

Kate looked over her remaining team as they sat in and on the two SUVs parked next to a hanger with a CIA Black Jet. She was still struggling with the fact that she lost two men. Mike took a seat next to her on the steps of the jet. "Penny for um?" He asked.

"What?" She asked.

"Your thoughts. What are you thinking about?" He asked.

"I don't think that's any of your business." She said indignantly but then her face dropped. "The two men. Ramirez, and Brown. I was supposed to have the easy targets. The ones that would topple over fast and lead to no casualties. Instead you almost died at the warehouse and I lost two men at the office building. How the hell I'm I going to look Chuck in the eye and tell him I managed to get two of my guys killed?" She asked.

"I don't know, but if this Chuck guy has any brains in his head he'll know it wasn't your fault. Doing tactical takedowns can be very dangerous. You might have all the information in the world going in, but if the guy you're come for ate a good breakfast and got a good night's sleep he could be just a little bit faster than you and that little bit could mean the difference between an easy takedown and you're whole team getting blown up. You can never know for sure what's waiting for you on the other side of a door." Mike said placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe you're right but I still have to tell him what happened. I still have to live with the fact that two men died on my watch." She said

"Everyone deals with something like that at least once in their life if they chose to do this job." He said.

"How do you…" She started to say before her phone started to vibrate. She pulled it out and saw it was Chuck. "Here goes nothing, Hey Chuck." She said sadly.

"Kate I need…" Chuck started to say but stopped himself. "Kate, what's wrong?" He asked.

"I lost two guys at the office building. They walked into a wall of bullets as soon as they went through the door." She said close to tears again.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you hurt?" He asked.

"No, but I lost two guys Chuck." She said.

"That's terrible, but you need to get up and dust yourself off. I need you to fly out to meet the team in Nevada." Chuck said.

"Your not mad at me?" She asked.

"Mad? Why the hell would I be mad? You had a dangerous job to do. You and your team raided two enemy locations. It sucks to lose men but it happens. It's what we do. I knew I was sending you all out to do dangerous things today. So far none of the team is dead. I can tell you now I didn't think you would all make it out of this in one piece. I hoped, and I believed in you guys to do the job but I knew the risks. We only have a few missions left and then we can all come back home and take some time to think. Right now I need you to turn that part of your brain off. I need you and your team to get to the Nevada rally point. We are going to need all the help we can get for this last one." Chuck said.

"What is it Chuck? You sound… I don't know, but I don't like it." She said trying to place the sound in his voice. It was desperation mixed with a weakness she never heard from him. A tone she really didn't like.

"I, well Anna got Ted to talk. He said he has my parents in that bunker in the desert." Chuck said feeling raw.

"Chuck I'll be there. I'm bringing my team and I'll meet you there soon. We will get them back for you. You have my word." She said confidently.

"Thank you Kate. I have some information to get together first, but I see you soon." He said before hanging up.

Kate put her phone away and looked at Mike. "Get the boys together we need to go. We're going to take down the desert base." She said walking up the stairs of the plane with the same confidant swagger she had at the start of the day.

Mike shook his head and walked over to the group. The whole time he was thinking about the guy on the phone. With just a few minutes he turned her self-doubt into total confidence.

A half hour later Chuck came back with a black passport drive and plugged it into the conference room computer. Jordan looked on as he pulled up the file for the bunker. "What are we looking at?" She asked staring at the overhead shots of a concrete landing pad and a small brown cinderblock building no bigger then a small house.

"Fulcrum's cold storage. The only access point is by chopper, and only Fulcrum agents get to land on the small pad. Anyone else will get shot down. Then you have two guards with M4s protecting the elevator to get down to the bunker. The bunker is three levels with increasing number of guards on each level. Four on the first, six on the second, and ten on the third. All heavily armed. Then you're looking at three fulcrum assassins in training living on the third floor which, by some fun stroke of luck is the same floor my parents are on." Chuck said pulling up files as he spoke.

"Wow, this really is a fucked mission, how are we going to do this?" Jordan said reading the files.

"We get Teddy to call in a prisoner transfer. We take two fulcrum choppers and the tactical guys. We land and me, you, and Kate walk right in. They will take our guns at the door but, we don't need our guns. The guards have all the guns we could ever need. Once we get down to the third level we have the guards take us to the cell with my parents, and drop the guards. We take their guns and call in Carina and the tactical guys. They clear the ground floor, we take the third floor by the time the guards on two and one have any idea what's going on they'll be out numbered. Three of us could take on ten guards and three assassins right?" Chuck asked looking at her side.

"I'm fine Chuck, it's stitches, if I rip them open I'll have some put back in. we have one more job to do and then we can pack it in for the day." She said patting him on the arm.

"If we do this you're wearing a vest and staying behind me. You are not getting shot again today." Chuck said smiling at her.

"Fine. Now lest do this." Jordan said.

Time: 1523 Location: hovering over the Cold storage bunker, North of Reno. NA

Chuck looked at Jordan sitting across from him. They where both wearing vests and carrying MP5Ks. "If this doesn't work out fall back to the room my parents are in and I'll hold off the guards long enough for the tactical guys to get there." Chuck said.

"Chuck, that's crazy. We don't…"

"Just do it. The mission is to get them out. I am not your mission. Kate is not your mission. My parents are. They make it out of this with the same amount of holes God gave them." Chuck said looking every bit the trained killer his file said he was. Today had changed him. What little of the man he once was, was fading away fast. every time he killed, a little bit more of his innocent past was dieing too. She hoped they made it out of this alive so he could sit in a room and talk to his wife. The man was losing it fast and she was sad to say it suited the mission they were about to undertake. The two choppers landed and Chuck, Jordan, and Kate jumped out as the engines wound down.

Two guards in full tactical gear and M4s met them at the door. "Carmichael?" He asked.

"That's me, we're here for a prisoner transfer." Chuck said handing over the official paperwork.

"Full vest, and tactical support for a crazy old man and an old agent?" The guy asked as they walked into the bunker and stopped at a desk with another tactical guard seated behind a desk.

"You have no idea who those two are do you? They are both very high value targets the gear is not for them, it's for anyone trying to hit us to get to them." Chuck said unclipping his MP5K off the sling under his jacket and a Glock from his hip and handed them over. He put his hand on the scanner and his file popped up. Jordan went next as Chuck stepped aside.

"I see. Well good luck, do you want us to escort you down?" The guard asked.

"Sure, if it's not too much trouble." Chuck said as they all got on the elevator with the guard. When the doors opened on the third floor two more guards were waiting by the elevator. The first guard and the two guards from the elevator walked with them through a maze of hallways to the last door at the end of a hallway.

"This is the room." He said hitting a green button next to the door and it slid open. "We'll go in first to secure the prisoners." The guard said walking into the room with the two other guards. As one Chuck, Jordan and Kate moved in after them. Chuck took the first guy from behind grabbing him in a choke hold, the guard struggled for a few seconds before he passed out. Jordan kicked her guy in the back of the knee buckling his legs, she grabbed his head in her hands and snapped his neck. Kate, on the other hand jabbed two fingers into her guys neck at the base of his skull which made his crumble to the ground, she then kicked him in the throat, breaking his windpipe. In seconds the guards were down and Chuck looked up and saw them standing in the middle of a small apartment similar to the one he was kept for a few days. They were both dressed in jeans, white t-shirts, and white tennis shoes. He didn't know what to say, he just stood there in shock.

"Chuck?" His mom asked in shock as she walked the few steps up to him.

"Mom." He said unsure of what to do with himself.

Mary grabbed him in a tight hug and cried. "My boy, my baby. Chuck, what are you doing here?" She asked looking panicked.

"It's okay, mom were here to bust you out." Chuck said looking at his father who was still standing there looking confused. "What's wrong with him?" Chuck asked.

"He'll be fine we just have to get him to a computer in the CIA. It will help him." Mary said walking over and taking her husband's hand. He smiled and walked with her.

"The Intersect? I have one back at Castle. Did he fry his brain?" Chuck asked looking at his confused looking father.

"No, he put a block on his memories to stop Roark from building an intersect. This is the key to unlock his memories." She said pulling a small micro SD card from her watch.

"Good thinking dad." Chuck said nodding as he patted his father on the arm.

"How are we going to get out? There are guards everywhere." Mary asked.

"Don't worry about that." Chuck said as Jordan and Kate came over with their hands full of gear. "Here put these vests on and stay close to Jordan." Chuck said handing his mother two of the vest. He took a Sig 226 tactical from Kate and tucked it into his back before shouldering an M4. "Kate call Carina and tell her to attack." Chuck said looking outside the hallway was clear. "You guys stay here for now." He said pulling Kate out the door with him. He ghosted down the hall with his M4 up. He stopped at the corner and peaked around. He saw three guards at the end of the hall standing in a group. He looked back at Kate and held up three fingers. He handed her the M4 and casually walked down the hall towards the three. "Hey, are you three having bad Cell reception down here? I can't seem to get any bars down here." He said as he walked up to them. The first guard turned to look at him and Chuck punched him in the throat sending him to the floor, He landed a round house kick to the second guards chest sending him flying backwards into the concrete wall behind him knocking him out cold. The third guard tried to bring his M4 up to shoot him but Chuck grabbed the barrel and slammed the but of the gun into the guys face dazing him, he then kneed him in the balls and slammed his elbow into his head knocking him out.

Chuck was zip tying the first guard by the time Kate ran over. "That was very violent." She said pulling a set of zip ties off the second guard and binding his hands.

"We have to do this quick." Chuck said tying the third guys hands behind his back. He took the M4 off the ground where she set it and ran down the hall with Kate behind him. As they crossed a double door three guys in their mid twenties and dressed like the rest of the prisoners came rushing out with guns in their hands. Kate was confused for a split second, in that time the first guy turned his gun on her and fired three times. Chuck spun around, saw they where the assassins, and shot them all. He dropped down next to Kate. "You okay." He asked looking her over.

"Yeah. I think I took all three to the vest." She said sitting up.

The last four guards came running down the hall Chuck pulled the Sig 226 from his back and knee capped them all. "You move and you all Fucking Die!" He yelled helping Kate to her feet. He spun around and put a bullet right between the eyes of a guard that was trying to get his gun up. "I warned you. The rest of you stay the fuck down." He said as he walked up to them. He pulled the Mag out of each of their M4s and handed them to Kate. He took the Sigs off their belts and stuck one in his back and took the mag out of the other three and tossed the guns. "You ready for the sound floor?" He asked watching her favor her left side as they walked down the hall to the elevator.

"I'm okay." She said wincing.

"No, you're not. You should…" He stopped talking when the doors on the elevator opened and four guys got out. They looked at each other for a second and the guards reached for their guns. Chuck dove forwards into a roll and came up on his knee with both guns up. Before the guards could figure out what was going on they were all dead. "Like I was saying. Just stay here and guard the elevator. I'll handle the second floor. If Carina didn't do it already." Chuck said pulling one of the dead bodies on to the elevator with him. He hit two and the doors closed. Tucking himself close to the side he took the short trip up one floor. When the doors opened he heard a few shouts and two guards came to see who was on the elevator. As soon as they stuck their heads in they lost them. Bullets pinged off the back wall of the elevator car and Chuck dropped down low on one knee. He waited for the shooting to stop before he popped his head out and saw three more guards standing at the end of a long hallway. Chuck emptied both mags hitting them multiple times he was about to get out of the elevator to see if there were any more guards but the doors closed. "Shit!" He said changing out his mags. When the doors opened on level one he saw Carina and her four man assault team waiting for the elevator. "Get on I didn't get a chance to clear Level two." He said waving them in with his gun.

"You and you with me." Carina said. "The other two get those bodies out of the elevator. Your work Chuck?" She asked. Standing next to him as two of her guys drug the bodies out.

"Yes." He said coldly as he hit the button for two. When the doors open the they swept the level. "Carina call in the other two choppers, I want to start clearing people out." He said.

"I will, you take your parents and get out of here. I'll handle the clean up." She said patting him on the arm as he got into the elevator.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes, now go, and take Jordan and Kate with you, they're both injured." She said hitting the button for three.

Chuck walked off the elevator and saw Jordan, Kate and his parents waiting for him. "Come on, let's get you all out of here." He said waving them in with him. They rode up in silence, and when they got to the entrance Chuck grabbed his MP5K from the desk and clipped it to the sling. They got into the waiting Black Hawk helicopter, and Chuck got behind the stick. In seconds they were headed back west to L.A.

Mary sat holding her husband, she kept looking at Chuck. The last thing she heard about him was that he worked at a Buy More, but Nerd Herders didn't have the skills she just saw. That was company training. She looked at Kate. "Do you mind switching seats with me?" She asked.

"Sure, do you want me to hold his hand?" Kate asked pointing to Steven.

"Would you please, he gets agitated when we're out of the cell." Mary said handing Steven off to Kate as she took her seat.

"Hi, I'm Kate." She said holding his hand with a big smile.

Mary sat in the seat next to Jordan and right behind Chuck. "Chuck, How long have you been with the CIA?" She asked.

"A few weeks. It's a long story mom." He said deep in thought.

"We have a long trip, why don't you tell her about it Chuck." Jordan said seeing the tension in his shoulders.

"Please Chuck. I want to know everything." Mary said holding his shoulder tighter.

"I guess it al started with an email…" Chuck spent the rest of the flight just talking in a monotone voice.


	32. Chapter 32

Forty-five minutes later Chuck landed the chopper on the Fulcrum Airstrip and hopped out. He ran to his car and pulled it around as the rest got out. "Jordan up front." He said watching as they got in. As soon as they were seated Chuck took off.

"Chuck, don't you think you're driving a little fast Sweetie?" Marry asked from the back seat.

"I want to get back to castle as fast as I can. I want to get these two checked over for any injuries and get dad in a download chair. I also have three missions still ongoing, as well as a conference call to make to the President and two Generals. The faster I get back, the better." Chuck said in a voice that two of the women knew belonged to Mad Dog Carmichael.

Chuck was in deep agent mode and he had been since before they took off two and a half hours ago. Kate took it in stride but Jordan was worried. She knew Chuck was fading in and out but the more he did today, he was looking and sounding less like the old Chuck. She didn't know what to do but she knew she needed to do something quick or Chuck might be lost to the agent Carmichael by the end of the day. She was about to talk to him when his phone rang. "Carmichael." He answered robotically.

Sarah looked at her phone for a second before shaking her head. "Chuck, we are cleaning up at the Fulcrum Estate and heading to the airfield next we should be done in an hour." She said smiling.

"Good, keep up the good work, and call me back when you're done. I'll set up a prisoner transfer tonight." He said weaving in and out of traffic.

Sarah knew something was up, she just didn't know what it was. Chuck just rescued his parents, he should be ecstatic. Instead he sounded cold. "Chuck, is there something wrong?" She asked.

"No, I'm headed back to Castle with the cargo. I'll talk to you later agent Walker." He said hanging up.

"Was that Sarah?" Jordan asked schooling her face to not show her shock.

"It was, they're cleaning up the estate." Chuck said not looking at her.

Sarah turned to Casey. "I think something is wrong with Chuck." She said.

"What do you mean?" He asked walking to the SUV with her.

"He sounded so cold and he called his parents cargo. He also called me Walker. Something is not right Casey." She said looking worried.

"After we take the airfield you should go back. Talk to him, see what's wrong with him." Casey said.

"What about the clean up?" We have to get all these prisoners back to L.A., we have to…"

"I'll do it. The kid's been under for close to a month. He's been downloading things to his head, killing people and God only knows what else. He also just went from being an orphan to having parents again. The kid needs you Sarah. So go. I can handle this with Snow. We'll be back in a few days. You should fly out to L.A., grab Chuck and his folks, and take them to Ellie and Devon on the island. We'll all fly out their when this is over. The whole team needs a break and Chuck needs time to just be Chuck again." Casey said as they drove to the airfield leading the rest of the team in eight SUVs.

"I think you're right." She said holding Chuck's ring.

"And Walker, don't be yourself." Casey said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked giving him a dirty look.

"It means exactly what it means. Don't be you. The agent. Be you the normal person." He said not looking at her.

"and how am I supposed to do that?" She asked.

"Well maybe not you but… oh hell. You spent all that time with Chuck when you were faking a relationship, just do what he did for you. You know, be Chuck, for Chuck." He said looking at the road, but his ears turned red.

Sarah smiled. "I understand that. Why didn't you just say that in the first place." She said.

"Shut up Walker." He said pulling off to the side of the road a mile away from the airfield.

"It's okay to say things like that John, I won't tell anyone, and we won't thing any less of you for having feeling." She said hopping out of the SUV with a smile.

Chuck lead everyone down into Castle and Saw Morgan sitting at the conference room table. "Hey little buddy, can you check Kate, and Jordan out and see if they're hurt more then they're letting on?" He asked without slowing down. He walked over to a download chair and powered it up.

"Sure Chuck." Morgan said pulling to the protesting women out of the room.

"Mom do you have the SD card?" Chuck asked hopping into the chair.

"Sure Chuck. Here." She said handing it over. She was starting to get worried now. So far Chuck had been very curt and not the least bit loving. He almost acted like he didn't know them at all. Admittedly it had been a long time but he was acting so strange. She was chalking it all up to stress, but now the shooting was over and they were safely tucked into a safe house. She expected something different. Something more loving. At least something human.

Chuck slipped the Micro SD card in the card reader slot and opened the file. Opening the coding he flashed on the lines of text and knew he was looking at an old version of the Intersect data compression. He checked it over for anything that might be out of place and found a coding error. After fixing it he ran it all through the Intersect 2.0 patch and got out of the chair. "Help me get him in the chair." He said hopping out and turning to them.

"I will but them me and you are going to sit down and talk." Mary said helping Steven into the chair.

"Fine," Chuck said distractedly. "Dad, I need you to look at these screens, Okay?" Chuck said coming around behind the chair and put his hands on his head to hold it straight. "You understand me?" He asked, but got no answer. "Is he always like this?" Chuck asked holding his father's head with one hand and hitting enter with the other. In seconds the computer started flashing and Steven was locked to the screen. Chuck pulled his hand away and fell back into the other download chair. He turned it on and started typing.

"Chuck, what are you doing now? I told you I wanted to talk to you." Mary said putting her hands on her hips and giving him a mom stare.

"I need to do this. I understand his coding and I think I can replicate it." Chuck said not looking up from his work.

"Chuck, what are you talking about?" She asked. "I don't like you playing with your brain. I won't stand for it! You get out of that chair right now young man!" She said getting in his face. Jordan, Kate, and Morgan cam in to the room.

"Chuck what's going on?" Jordan asked.

"Look Jordan, I need to run a patch on the Intersect in my head. If I don't do this I will go crazy. I need you to watch my father and make sure he's not in any pain, if he starts to grind his teeth or shake I need you to hit the space bar on the keyboard, it will slow the download down." Chuck said not looking up.

"If you're sure about this…" Jordan said looking at him sadly.

"I am. And take her out of here. I need to work right now." Chuck said pointing at Mary as he typed with one hand shocking Mary.

"Chuck look at me." Jordan said standing over him. When he looked up she saw the desperate look in his eyes. "I'll do what every you want but I need you to tell what you're doing right now." She said.

"Kate take Morgan and my mother out of here now." Chuck said still looking at Jordan.

Kate looked back and forth between Chuck and Jordan. Jordan nodded and Kate grabbed the two protesting people by the upper arm and drug them out of the room as they protested loudly.

"My father found a way to lock his memories behind a firewall. It was a primitive code but it worked. After he ran the patch he was effectively without cognitive memory. A shell without a personality or thoughts about his past. He's still storing memories he just can't access them. Like I said, old code. With my new patch to the Intersect I can fix his work, and build on his theory. Jordan, I'm going to take all of the memories I collected over the last month and store them behind a firewall. Everything I did. Every thing I learned. All of the skills. All of Carmichael. I'm going to lock it all up so I can be Chuck again. Just Chuck, informational Intersect Chuck. No Carmichael." He said with a smile on his lips but a sadness in his eyes.

"Chuck, that's crazy. What if we need you?" She asked.

"This is where my knowledge picks up from my father's work. I can build in a door. A gate to let him out when I need to, but keep him down when I don't. It's what I was trying to do in the first place, but as I got stronger, as he got stronger he started taking over. Now I can barley feel anything for the mother and father I haven't seen in in more then twenty years. I need to take back my life Jordan. If this doesn't work the worst case scenario isn't losing Carmichael, it's losing Chuck. As it is now I'm fighting him for control right now just to talk to you. I can't fight for control of my own body for the rest of my life. I have to do this." Chuck said close to tears.

"Okay. I make sure nothing happens while you work. Chuck, I love you, don't kill yourself with this thing, Okay?" She asked half joking.

"Go now. I can't keep him down forever." Chuck said turning back to the screen. For the next fifteen minutes Chuck typed without showing any sign of being alive aside form his fingers moving. He looked over the code one more time before running it. He had to get this right. When he was sure it would work he felt Carmichael fight him for control. In his head he came face to face with his other half. He was dressed in the black tux, and holding the PPK and the martini glass but he was not smiling, he looked pissed off.

"What are you doing Chucky?" Carmichael asked with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"I need to put up a wall between us. Separate us a little bit more. It's for both of us. I don't have to walk around with this knowledge in my head and when I need you, you won't have to deal with my guilt, and shame." Chuck said smiling.

"Look Kid, I like you. Hell you made me, but now I'm out and there is no way in hell I'm going back. I'm not some puppet you can pull out of a box when you need something. I'm a fully formed personality. You made me that way so I could keep you alive. So you could get the girl. So you could protect the one's you love. So how about this, you leave me in charge and I'll keep us safe, and happy." Carmichael said.

"I don't think so. We don't need to be out in the field. We can plot and plan from home. I'm the team leader. I don't have to get my hands dirty if I don't have to. When Carmichael is needed I'll let you out. Until then you have to stay out of my head. I can't be me if I'm you." Chuck said turning to leave.

He stopped when he heard the safety click off behind him. "I can't let you do this Chuck." Carmichael said.

Chuck turned around and saw the gun pointed at him. He felt fear for the first time in a month and he didn't like it. "Did you pee just a little bit?" Carmichael asked smirking. "Do you feel the fear? Feel it rushing through your veins? Don't you wish I could be there to help you? Make the fear go away? How are you going to live without me Chuck?" Carmichael asked.

"He'll do just fine Asshole. Now Drop It!" Both Chuck and Carmichael turned to look at the third Chuck. This one had black suit paints, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black tactical vest. He was also carrying MP5-SD6, and his face was set in a hard, cold mask.

"Who the Fuck is this guy!?" Carmichael asked.

But Chuck smiled. "Mad Dog, thanks for the save." Chuck said smirking as he folded his arms over his chest.

"I wouldn't go patting me on the back just yet Chuckles. The silver tongued devil has a point." Mad Dog said in a gruff Casey sounding voice. "You need us Kid. And this wall thing is not the brightest thing you ever cooked up. Sure you might not need us everyday but you will need us. I also don't like the idea of walling off two thirds of your gray matter."

"But I have to or he'll take over my body fully. Look at what happened today! I found my parents and I can't even show them How I feel!" Chuck yelled pointing at Carmichael.

"That's not his fault kid. It's mine. Today was the first time I was in charge for more then a few minutes and I held on for too long. He's not so bad, he can give you back control when he's not needed. I never had to. But I can now. Don't do this kid, you'll end up fucking your head up. We are three side of you. You can't lock two of those sides away." Mad Dog said.

"Fine, I'll stop, but we have to come to an agreement right now! You two can not come out to play unless I need you. If I'm not on a mission, if I'm not in danger, if I'm with my wife and family you two need to back the fuck off." Chuck said.

"I'm fine with that but you have to let us out to play every once in a while." Carmichael said.

"Fine, I'll go on more missions." Chuck said.

"You don't have to." Mad Dog said. "Just go out to a firing range every few day for me." He said.

"And let me hit on some ladies. You don't have to put yourself in danger for us. We just want to help you. It's why I panicked and threatened to shoot you." Carmichael said tossing his PPK down and looking sorry. "Look you're in charge Chuck. You call on us and we'll hang back. I'll help you keep the wife and get you things, and this trained ape will do the killing for you." Carmichael said smiling.

"Okay, I can live with this." Chuck said. "And we should have more of these meetings in the future. You know, without the guns." Chuck said smiling.

"Agreed Kid. Sorry about today, by the way." Mad Dog said sheepishly.

"It's cool big guy. Thanks for looking out for us today. Now if you don't mind, I need to go hug my mother." Chuck said.

"Do your thing Chucky." Carmichael said smiling and raising his glass.

"And don't forget to call the teams. You're still running missions you know." Mad Dog said.

"Right, see you two later." Chuck said coming out of his head.

Jordan was watching Chuck and his dad. For the last two minutes he looked frozen with his hand hovering over the enter key. She was just about to go check on him when he opened his eyes and hopped out of the chair. "You okay Chuck?"

Chuck shook his head before turning to her. "Yeah. I am. I had a little chat with a couple of guys and I think everything is in order now." Chuck said sitting in the chair again and saving the program he was working on. "I won't be needing the patch." Chuck said looking at his father. "How long has he been going?" He asked.

"A few minutes since you blacked out. I don't know if that's good or bad." She said.

"Has he struggled at all?" Chuck asked crouching down by the chair.

"No. he looks peaceful." She said touching Chuck's head. "How about you?" She asked softly.

"I'm good. I'm also me." Chuck said smiling a soft smile.

"Good. You had us all worried." Jordan said relaxing.

"I had me worried too." Chuck said laughing as he looked over the computer readout. "He looks like he has about another minute or two. He'll probably pass out from this like me when I download a lot of data. After that he should be fine." Chuck said before turning to Jordan. He pulled her into a hug. "Thank you for everything today." He said softly.

"You're welcome Chuck. I'll keep watching him, why don't you go talk to your mother. She looks close to freaking out." She said pulling back and patting him on the cheek.

"I think I will. Thank you my wise Angel." Chuck said smiling.

"There you go calling me old again." She said as Chuck walked away.

Mary Frost was pacing the room looking at Kate. "How long am I going to have to stay in here?" She asked shortly.

"Until Chuck says so. Why don't you relax." Kate said.

"Because my husband and my son are playing with their heads in the other room and you have me waiting in here." Mary said.

"I'm sure everything is fine…" Kate said but she was cut off when the door opened up and Chuck came in.

"Thanks Kate, why don't you go lay down for a bit." Chuck said patting her on the back before he stepped up to his mother and pulled her into a big hug. "I've missed you so much Mom." He said holding her tight.

"Oh Chuck, you had me so worried. What happened?" She asked holing his face in her hands.

"The short answer is I'm psychotic and I was having a fight with my two other sides. The long answer will come later. Right now I have a few phone calls to make. One of them is with the President. Do you want to sit with me while I work?" He asked with a big smile.

"I would love to Sweetie. Then we need to talk about your sister." She said holding his hand as they walked back to the conference room.

Time 18:35 Location: Private Runway, Burbank CA

Sarah walled off the G6 and saw Carina waiting for her standing next to a black BMW. "Hey Bitch, I'll be your driver this evening." She said smiling.

"Looks like it. How's my Chuck doing?" Sarah asked tossing her bag into the trunk before hugging her sister.

"Better now. About four hours ago Kate said he kicked everyone out of the conference room and after that he seamed better. He is kind of pissed that you came back to take care of him but Jordan had a few words with him and after that he was all smiles again." She said driving out of the airport headed for Castle.

"Good, what's going on now?" Sarah asked relaxing back in her seat.

"Chuck's handling logistics and clean up for the last few missions. Jordan, Scott, Kate, and Anna are back at Chuck's place. Morgan is keeping Chuck's parents entertained and I was put in charge of running around. I just came back from a pizza run before you called." Carina said.

"Shit I just remembered Chuck's parents. Can you drop me off at my apartment? I need to shower and put on something nice. I look like G.I. Jane. My hair's a frightful mess and I smell like blood and sweat." Sarah said sniffing her black shirt.

"I can do that, but I doubt Chuck, or his parents will care. They seam like nice people. Kind of like Chuck really. His dad is super nerdy and his mom has that calming way about her like Chuck." Carina said.

"Still I think the first time I meet the in-laws I should look like a girl." Sarah said smiling at Carina's description of Chuck's folks.

"Whatever Blondie, it's not like you're going anywhere special. It's just Castle." Carina said as she pulled up to Sarah's hotel.

"Well I was hoping to get Chuck and his parents out of Castle tonight. We haven't seen each other in almost a week and his parents have been underground for twenty years. Even if it's just out to a bar or something, it would be nice." She said as they got out of the car. "We all need to unwind a bit." She said as they rode the elevator up to her floor.

"I can see that, but it might be easier said then done, Chuck is really working hard back at Castle and I don't think it's something he would be willing to hand off." Carina said as Sarah jumped in the shower.

"We'll see about that, the man is running himself raw." Sarah said over the sound of the shower. She washed all the dirt off, but now she was trying to was the blood off her soul, she turned the heat up and sighed as the hot water ran over her body.

"I say leave him be for now. If you want to help out then help him get his jobs done. We have Roark sitting in a holding cell. Chuck is too busy to talk to him and frankly I think he's afraid he might kill the guy if he's left too long with him, and Anna is hurt. You're the best interrogator we have next to her. So maybe you can help by getting the rest of the information out of him. Or you can talk over for Morgan, it's his first day you know? Hell of a first day." Carina said to herself as she shook her head thinking about what they accomplished today. In one day they busted Fulcrum. She still couldn't believe it. And none of them died. That's the part that really shocked her more then anything. She didn't know if it was Chuck's planning, or the skills of the team, or just blind stupid luck but the same number of agents that started the day ended up making out the other end alive.

"Hey Bitch! I'm talking to you." Sarah said smiling.

"What?" Carina asked shaking her head.

"I asked you what I should wear. You know, to meet Chuck's Parents?" Sarah asked standing in front of her closet in a robe.

"It doesn't matter as long as it covers your tits and crotch I think you'll be fine. We're talking about a guy that blushes every time he talks to one of the women walking around Castle and an ex-CIA agent. You have nothing to be worried about. She'll understand what you do and he'll be happy his son found a pretty girl like you. So get dressed so we can go already. Some of us decided it would be a good idea to party last night forgetting how early this was all going down." Carina said smirking.

"It's not my fault you can't keep it in your pants." Sarah said grabbing a pair of black jeans and Chuck favorite sweater.

When Sarah ditched the robe reveling the sexy black lingerie she was wearing Carina wolf whistled. "You're asking me about clothes and your dressed like a high priced hooker underneath? You dirt slut." Carina said laughing.

"Shut up!" Sarah said blushing. "Like I said, I haven't seen Chuck in a week and I've missed him." She said smiling.

"No, you've missed his mouth. Remember, you told me what he can do. If you weren't so stingy with your toys I could sample the goods too." Carina said smacking Sarah on the ass as she bent over to put on her jeans.

"I told you once, and I'll say it again. You try to fuck my husband and I'll gut you bitch." Sarah said smirking.

"I know, I know." Carina said rolling her eyes. "Beside's Chuck would never go for it. Carmichael might, but Chuck never would." Carina said.

"You're right, but on the off chance he's stuck in the Carmichael mind set let's not take our chances. It happened today, it can happen again." Sarah said pulling on her sweater.

"Have you ever been stuck like that? I know I have, for a long time I was the Crazy Bitch. Blindly jumping from one bad situation to the next just doing whatever the hell I wanted. Today reminded me of how crazy the Crazy Bitch can be. I almost got this Texas Ranger killed today, and he was a nice guy. I kind of liked him. After meeting the Crazy Bitch he drove my to the airfield just to get rid of me." Carina said smiling sadly.

"About eight years ago I was running down a lead on an Afghan warlord supplying arms to the rebels in the mountains. It was my fourth straight month in the desert and I don't even know how many mission, it all just felt like one big gun fight. I tracked this guy to a hideout in the mountains and found a whole camp full of rebels and stock piles of weapons." She said brushing out her hair.

"A smart person would have called in an air strike. A crazy person would have called for a Spec. Op. team. Instead I waited for nightfall and tried to take the whole camp by myself." She said sadly.

"I managed to kill most of them, I even blew up a bunch of the weapons causing a big fire which called in a team to investigate. By the time they got there two hours later I was beaten half dead. I'm just glad they didn't rape me. It took three weeks in a hospital to feel like a human again. Gram came to see me in Germany. It was only after talking to him that I realized The Enforcer was still out. Still controlling things. I took time off after that and I asked to never be assigned to a hot war zone for too long ever again." Sarah said getting her things together. "Let's go, I want to see my husband." She said walking out the door.

"Hey! How come you didn't tell me about that?" Carina asked getting on the elevator behind her.

"Because I didn't want you to know. A part of me is still embarrassed by that mission, but I'm starting to figure out I can't keep shit like that in. I have to tell people things. Chuck thinks I got the Yipps because he was doing so good and I was sitting on my ass but the truth is I was intimidated by him and I kept it all bottled up. When he talked to me that night I knew my problem is he's the only one I talk to about this stuff, because he's Chuck, you know? That's what he's good at, but now I think I need to start talking to you and Chuck's sister. Maybe then I won't go crazy the next time I see Chuck doing Carmichael things on a mission. I can't only talk to him, if he's away for a long time then I go a little wonky." Sarah said walking out to the car. She stopped and looked at Chuck's Mustang sitting in the parking lot. "I think I'm going to drive Chuck's car to Castle." She said smiling.

"This is Chuck's car." Carina said confused until she saw the black Boss in the lot. "Right, that car. I forgot about Sarah the Boss Lady." Carina said laughing.

"I forgot he named it." Sarah said walking away.

"So I sat there while you showered for nothing?!" Carina called out as Sarah got in The Boss Lady and started it up with a big smile.

When Sarah came burning out of the Lot yelling "Race You!" Carina snickered, revved the V8 in the BMW, and took off after her.

They blasted into the lot of the Buy More a few minutes later with Sarah way out in the lead. She skidded into a spot in front of the FroYo shop with a big smile on her face. She was really starting to love the Mustang. It was so raw and powerful. "Good of you to show up." She said to Carina as she skidded into the spot next to her.

"Whatever Bitch, I'm in a four door car." Carina said smiling.

"With a turbo V8!" Sarah said as they walked in to Castle.

They both Saw Chuck. He was standing in front of the conference room table wearing a headset, typing on a keyboard, and looking at the four TV screens. Two of the screens had Generals, Beckman on the far left and Stanfeild on the right. The screen next to Beckman had the President's Chef of Staff, and the last screen had a bunch of files. Everyone was talking at once and Chuck was keeping up with the three conversations as well as flashing on the documents popping up on the fourth screen. When the door shut behind them Chuck looked up at them and smiled when he saw the sweater. "Whoa! Time out for a minute, my wife just got here. Give me a second guys." Chuck said. Chuck set down the keyboard and pulled his wife into a kiss. "Hey sexy lady. I see you're wearing the blue sweater. Does that mean I'm going to get lucky tonight?" He asked with a shy smile.

"If you play you're cards right I might even let you tie me up again." She said in a tone that made his pants uncomfortable.

"Um Chuck, you're mic is still on." Stanfeild said with a smirk.

"Shit! Um guy's I'll be back in a minutes." Chuck said before tossing the head set on the table blushing. He took her hand and pulled her out of the room as everyone but Chuck laughed. When they got in to the hall way Chuck turned to her and kissed her for all he was worth.

"Wow, where did that come from?" She asked smiling.

"That came from Chuck. I'm back to being just me now, and I worked it all out in my head, I'll tell you about it later." Chuck said.

"Good. I was worried about you. I still want to take you and your parents to the island resort we shipped the Awesome's off to. You really need a break Chuck, you look tired and dead on your feet." She said touching his face.

"I wish I could just leave, but I'm way too busy to just pack up and go. I've got after action reports coming in ever minute. I've got higher up grilling me for information. Not to mention all the people we arrested today! They all have to be questioned and shipped off to prisons and holding bunkers. Then we have to deal with RI. Come tomorrow the company is going to be down a CEO and people are going to be asking questions. If they find out he was the leader of a underground intelligence group trying to bring down the country, RI will go down the toilet! With him dead it's still going to be a shit storm. I'm tempted to let him go back to work so he can sign the company over to me in the next few week. Maybe we can fake a car crash or something. I don't know, and that's something I'm going to have to know by tomorrow! On top of all of that I've got parents to look after now because they both have been living under a rock for the last twenty years, literally!" Chuck said complaining.

"Wow Chuck, you are under way too much stress." She said pulling him into a hug and holding his head to her shoulder.

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown." Chuck muttered tiredly.

"That's what I came back to help with. Let's tackle your problems one by one and then go get a late diner with your parents, Carina and Morgan. You all could use a good heavy meal and a nice soft bed. I know I need that tonight. We've all been through a lot today. I took down a terrorist cell in D.C. today! You covered the west cost, and dealt with everything else. I think we can get you some time off. Now lets start with Roark. We'll say he's taking a vacation on a private island. The CIA can doctor up some shots of him on the beach and plant some sightings of him. That will give us a few weeks to come up with a better plan. As for the rest let the CIA and NSA handle it. We did the hard part. We caught them, let the agencies do the rest. Now introduce me to your parents and I'll keep them occupied while you finish up tonight. I'll give you three more hours and then you're going to hand over the rest of the clean up to you're Angels to handle the transfer and were' leaving. I want to be sitting on a beach sipping a tropical drink by tomorrow afternoon. We'll get a late night dinner, and go back to my room. In the morning we'll pack our bags, and hoop on one of the jets we took today and head out to the island. Besides, I miss Ellie. I think after their done we'll fly the rest of team out to the island and have our wedding on the beach. What do you think of that Chuck?" She asked smiling.

"It's sounds like a great plan. Now come on and meet my mom and dad." Chuck said leading her down the hall to the kitchen where they heard Morgan talking. It sounded like he was telling them everything they missed in the last twenty ears. They heard him talking about Chuck getting a job at the Buy More. They stopped out side the door and Chuck felt her grip tighten on his hand. "Nerves?" He asked.

"Big time. I want them to like me." She said looking into the room at the couple setting with Morgan.

"They'll love you because I love you. My mom's a spy too you know? And Dad will be happy I landed a hot agent just like he did. So come on, quit stalling." he said pushing open the door and dragging her in. "Mom, Dad. Meet Sarah, my wife." He said.

"Wow Chuck, you found a pretty one." Steven said standing up on unsteady feet ever since he got out of the chair he was adjusting to his body again.

Marry came around the table to hug her. "Hello dear. I'm Marry. I understand you're a Company Girl?" She asked pulling back.

"I was, but now I'm Chuck's girl. It's why we formed this team, no more missions a married woman can't do. Then again I never really did that sort of thing." Sarah said understanding what Marry was asking.

"Good. Then you have my blessing. Welcome to the family. Now lets talk." She said taking her off to chat.

Chuck walked up to his dad who was smiling next to Morgan. "So what do you really think dad?" He asked.

"Us Bartowski Men do have a type don't we son?" Steven said laughing.

"I think we do. It turns out my last girlfriend was a spy too." Chuck said.

"I told them all about you and Sarah Chuck it was the first thing I did." Morgan said.

"I knew I could count on you little buddy." Chuck said putting his arm around Morgan.

Carina came rushing into the room. "Chuck! The President is on the screen, he want's to talk to you!" She said

"Right! Guy's, after I finish up with this we're all going out to a late dinner. Carina, can you find a good place that's open late and call in a reservation?" He asked as he walked out of the room.

"On it Chuck." She called after him shaking her head. "After I get done with this" She mocked smiling. "He's talking about the leader of the free world." She said.

"It's Chuck?" Morgan said shrugging. To him Chuck could do anything, so seeing him being a leader and getting things done was no shock to him.

"You're right I guess, but still. It's the President." She said walking out of the room.

Sarah looked across the table at Marry and smiled, "So what do you want to know about me?" She asked.

"When did you fall for my Chucky?" Marry asked smiling.

"The first time I met him he was standing behind the Nerd Herd desk with Morgan not paying attention to anything but the phone he was holding to his ear and freest lying Vicky Vale. I said hi. He looked up at me, dropped the phone and tried to act cool. I thought he was so cute. Those big brown eyes and that smile. I was lost. sad really, a trained spy, losing it to a cute mark. But I was totally lost, from that day on he was Chuck, never a mark." She said smiling softly.

"And when did you two get married?" Marry asked.

"That's a funny story!" Sarah said relaxing, she would get along just fine with Marry Bartowski. They both loved Chuck and they both knew what they would do to keep him safe.

It was close to midnight when the six of them walked out of Castle. Chuck adjusted his tie and pulled on his suit jacket. "Carina, where did you make that reservation?" Chuck asked looking at his two cars. Carmichael loved the BMW, it was fast, it was elegant, and it screamed class. But the Boss Lady called out to both Chuck and Mad Dog which made him smile. Chuck loved the car because it was cool and Mad Dog loved the raw power.

"I found a little Italian place that was willing to stay open late for the right price, I'll lead, you just follow me there." Carina said walking over to the BMW with Morgan.

"Right, thanks Carina." Chuck said letting his mom slide into the back seat.

"The lest I can do for you team leader." She said smirking.

Chuck slipped into the drivers seat and smiled, he really loved the car. "Where did you get this bitchen ride Chuck?" Steven asked as Chuck started the car, and revved the engine.

"My amazing wife got her for me." Chuck said following Carina out of the lot.

"I knew I liked her for a reason son. She has really good taste." Steven said smiling as they blasted up the street.

"We were prepping for the mission and I knew we needed a car that couldn't be tracked. I went to a used car dealership to buy something cheap and inconspicuous. I was looking around the lot when a little old lady drove this car onto the lot. I stood close by to listen to what she was saying to the dealer. Apparently this was her husbands car. He bought it new with his veterans pay back in 1970 and took care of the car like it was his baby. Now he was dead and the little old lady needed some money so she was selling the car." Sarah said looking back to talk to the Bartowski's. "The sleaze ball dealer wanted to give her five thousand for it and she was going to take it. I walked up to her and said I'll pay four times that much. I told her I was buying it for my husband, and handed her four bricks of twenties. She was shocked. She said don't you want to drive it first? And I said sure how about I drive you home? I took her home and we talked. The car was perfect, and I made a nice friend in Edna. Since then I had her tuned up and put better brakes and tires. But the black and white fuzzy dice was Chuck's touch." Sarah said smiling.

"Every muscle car needs fuzzy dice." Chuck said smirking.

"What can I say? It's tacky, but it's totally Chuck." Sarah said putting her hand on his.

"Are you calling me tacky?" He asked smiling.

"Nooo." She said mockingly and she laughed.

"I'm so happy to see you two." Mary said with a big smile.

"I'm just happy you two are alive." Chuck said catching his mothers eye in the mirror. Carina pulled over in front of a small family restaurant. Chuck pulled in behind her. He got out and looked at the dark restaurant. "It looks closed." He said.

"It is closed." She said knocking on the door. An old Italian woman opened the door. "I called a few hours ago. Private party of six." She said smiling.

"Yes, we have the table set up." The old lady said opening the door. Chuck saw all of the tables had chairs on them except for the big table in the middle. It was set for six. All of the lights were set real low and candles gave the room a soft glow.

"Perfect. Thank you." Carina said smiling.

Chuck saw the room and agreed. "Thank you for doing this for us, we value our privacy." Chuck said in Italian as he handed the woman a wad of hundreds from his pocket.

"I understand. My husband and I are the only two here and we will wait in the kitchen until called." She said in Italian back. She seated them and handed out menus. "I will be back in a few minutes to take your orders." She said in accented English before walking into the back.

"I didn't know you could speak Italian." Steven said as he sat next to his wife.

"Italian, and 22 other languages." Chuck said looking over the menu.

"Chuck's a Bad ass." Morgan said with a big smile.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence but that wasn't always the case. When I first started out I was very much a big chicken. If not for Sarah and Casey I would be dead by now. Tell them Sarah, tell them how I used to scream like a girl." Chuck said laughing.

"It's true, but then again he had no training. No skills. He did very good for someone in his position. Besides, he saved our lives just as many times. That's on top of doing all kinds of stuff he had no skills for. He always found a way to make it out the other side." She said holding his hand.

"Why don't you tell us about your time before this last month?" Mary asked smiling.

"Well lets order and we can start with the fact that Sarah kicked both mine and Morgan's asses before she even got to know us." Chuck said smirking.

"When was this?" Morgan asked looking confused.

"That night after she first met us, remember the ninja that tried to take my computer? That was Sarah." Chuck said.

"You're kidding me." Morgan said giving Sarah a angry look that lasted for a second before he started laughing.

"Sorry Morgan." Sarah said laughing.

"Now you have to tell us about this." Mary said smiling.

For the next two hours they eat and talked about Chuck's time as a not-a-spy. Everyone had a good time at Chuck's expense, even Chuck.

"… And so there we were standing on the boat as the missile hit Casey's car and BOOM, I've never seen Casey look like he was going to kills Chuck, cry, and toss his cookies at the same time. It might have been worth blowing the car up just for that alone." Sarah said laughing.

"You know he's still mad about that car." Chuck said yawning.

"I think we should head out now. It's getting late and we've all had a big day. Since everyone is crashing at Chuck's house, and I refuse to sleep in a bed that all of his Angels have occupied we are heading back to my hotel tonight. Carina, I know you have a room three doors down from me and I know there's another free room on the floor. Lest go scoop it up for your folks and get a good night's sleep. In the morning we are heading out to an island resort. Morgan you are welcome to join us, or you can stay here with the rest of the team and come out with them." Sarah said as they stood up from the table.

"I think I'll stay and help Anna, she's my partner after all and she's hurt." Morgan said.

"That's my brother." Chuck said pulling him into a one arm hug.

"It's the right thing to do and it's why you pulled me on to the team." Morgan said with his head held high.

"I'll drop him off at his house." Carina said looping her arm around Morgan's shoulder with a smile. "Come on short stuff, lets get you hammered and get you to bed. It's your first night as an agent, you'll need something to sleep." She said.

"Fine, but I can not have sex with you, I'm with Alex." Morgan said smirking.

"Did I say anything about sex? I'm talking about enough Tequila to kill a Mexican." She said as they walked out.

"I'm glad she's staying with him tonight, but I hope she can keep it in her pants." Chuck said.

"She will because she likes him. Also she's trying to not be as wild now." Sarah said leaving a big stack of cash on the table before they walked out.

"Good, I like good agent Carina, she's like a more trained Melissa. Or a lose cannon Sam." Chuck said as they got in his car. "Do you think we can stop off at the tower? I would like to get my bags from the apartment." Chuck said.

"Sure, but then it's right to bed for all of us." Sarah said smiling.

"Yes Dear." Chuck said smiling.

"Just shut up and drive smarty pants." She said holding his arm.

They made the trip to the tower in a few minutes and Chuck got out to go run upstairs as he walked into the lobby he saw the doorman talking on the phone and remembered two things: One, the doorman was a fulcrum agent, and two, he was armed.

The second the doorman saw him he dropped the phone and pulled out his Glock. Chuck saw it and dove to the ground and slid behind a column six quick shots pinged off the column. Sarah having heard the shots came running into the door and the doorman turned the gun on her. Chuck pulled his gun from his back, brought it up, and pulled the trigger four times dropping the doorman but not before he got two shots of his own off. Chuck looked over to the door and saw Sarah on the floor.

He didn't know how long he froze but Mad Dog pushed him down and took over. In a second he was next to his wife checking her over. "I'm fine Chuck. I just hit my head falling wrong. Help me sit up." She said in a gruff voice. "Ouch!" She said holding her left arm. "Okay, so I was hit. Shit." She said looking at the deep graze across her shoulder. "I hate getting shot!" She said pissed off. "And my the best sweater I own!" Three cop cars pulled up out front. "Shit! Now the cops are here. Go deal with them, I'm fine." She said pushing him out the door. "And put away your gun!" She said shaking her head as she leaned against the door frame.

By the time they got the cop settled down, the body removed, and an agent to man the door. They made it to the hospital by four. At this point the elder Bartowski's where asleep in the back of the car, Chuck was running on fumes, and Sarah looked dead from the blood loss and the concussion. As soon as the ER doctors looked her over they rushed her off.


	33. Chapter 33

Sarah came to and looked around. She saw she was on a hospital bed and Chuck was sleeping in the chair next to her. "Chuck, what Happened?" She asked holding her bandaged head.

Chuck's head popped up and he smiled at her. "Hey, you're up." He said smiling.

"I am, what happened?" She asked looking confused.

"They felt a blood bubble in the back of your head. They had to make a small cut to drain the blood. They stitched up both cuts and gave you some x-rays to make sure you didn't crack your skull, but you're fine. They should release you sometime today." Chuck said holding her hand.

"Where are your parents?" She asked settling back in bed.

"Staying in your hotel room. I have Victoria running logistics with Jordan, Kate, and Carina. I have Morgan running around working as their gofer. Scott is staying with Anna to make sure she's resting and not hurting herself." Chuck said tiredly as his head drooped.

"What time did you get to sleep Chuck?" She asked touching his face.

Chuck looked at his watch, "It's a little after six so, twenty minutes ago." He said closing his eyes.

"Come here." She said scooting over in the bed. "Kick your shoes off and lay down with me." She said lifting the blanket.

"Okay." He said laying next to her. "Ouch," He said pulling his Sig 229 out of his back and setting it in the nightstand draw. "forgot it was back there." He said half asleep as he held her to him.

They were shaken awake by Carina and Morgan. "Hey you two, it's ten. Chuck you have a conference call with The President at eleven, you have a briefing after that with the other teams in the field and we set up a flight to take you to the island right after it ends." She said holding up a Starbucks coffee cup.

"Can she get out that soon?" Chuck asked taking the cup and sitting up.

"We just talked to the doctors, they want to run one more brain scan but they say she should be good to go." Morgan said handing Sarah a smoothie.

"Thanks Morgan." She said smiling at him.

"Come on, let's get going. You have to stop off at the tower to get another suit. You can't video conference call looking like that. You also have to read over Jordan and Victoria's notes." She said waving for him to get out of bed.

"How is Sarah going to get out of here if we go?" Chuck asked.

"That's my job Chuck. We came in your M5. I'll get her back to Castle and pick up your parents." Morgan said.

"Okay, let's do this then." He said getting up stiffly. He pulled his gun from the draw and tucked it into his back before leaning over and kissing Sarah. "See you in a few hours." He said smiling before following Carina out of the room.

"You ready to be leader for the next few hours?" She asked.

Chuck stood tall and his smile shifted to a wolfish smirk. "Always Red. Now let's get this show on the road I want to be sipping on a daiquiri by this afternoon." Chuck said.

"Red?! I give you Red. Call me that again and I'll spank your bottom." She said.

"You promise Red?" Chuck asked smirking.

"Carmichael?" She asked looking him in the eye as they walked out of the hospital.

"At your service sweet cheeks." He said drinking his coffee, "Oh god, what is this shit?" He asked.

"Double caramel cappuccino with extra sugar. Morgan said it's your favorite." She said as they got into his Mustang.

"For Chuck maybe. What do you have?" He asked starting the car. "Junky American hillbillymobile." He muttered as he drop into first and pull out of the lot.

"Regular Cappuccino." She said.

"Trade with me? I can't take this sweet shit." He said holding up his cup.

"But I drank from mine already." She said.

"So, my mouth has been on a lot more dirtier things that your mouth. Now hand it over Red." He said.

"Fine, but for the record, you're mean." She said switching cups with him.

"I know." He said taking a drink for the new cup. "Now that's good." He muttered as he pulled up to Roark Tower. "Now I'll be down in fifteen minutes." he said getting out. He turned around and smiled. "Unless you want to wash my back Red?" He asked with a sexy smile.

"I, I can't. I promised Sarah." She said blushing.

"I know, it's called a joke Red. I'll be out in fifteen." He said laughing.

"What!?" She yelled as her brain caught out with her. "Carmichael is an asshole." She said shaking her head with a smirk.

Chuck came down fifteen minutes later in a bright blue suit carrying three bags and a black suit in a dry cleaning bag. He tossed the bags in the trunk and handed her the black suit. "Here, hold this." He said starting the car.

"Is this the suit you just took off?" She asked.

"It is, I need you to clean it and put it in the safe in Castle. That's my lucky suit." Chuck said blasting to Castle.

When they got there Kate was talking on the phone, Jordan was video conferencing with general Beckman, and Victoria was flashing on documents as they popped up on the screen. "Oh Chuck thank god you're here. We have so much to do." Kate said. "Start with this, Sam is calling from New York, she's having trouble getting into the encrypted files on the hub computer in the office building." She said waving to the phone.

"Right. I need you guys to come up with a list of these sorts of things and bring them to me now because I'm not going to be here in a few hours and I'm not going to have a secure connection to this place. You all have the same skills I have so you need to figure out a way to do this job on your own." Chuck said taking the phone.

Kate looked shocked and she shared a look with Jordan and Carina. She made a gesture and the other women followed her out of the room. "Does Chuck seem a little mean to you guys?" She asked.

"He's being an ass hat. He took my coffee, made jokes at my expense, and then complained about his car, you know the Mustang? Chuck loves that car." Carina said.

Victoria walked in to the room looking hurt. "Chuck just called me Legs and told me to get off the station if I was going to work that slow, and I heard him berate Sam on the phone. Something is wrong with Chuck." She said.

"We know. We were just talking about it." Kate said.

"I say we keep watching him until Sarah gets here and tell her what happened. Maybe something is wrong with his head again." Jordan said.

"Agreed." Carina said.

Two hours later when Sarah came in with Morgan she saw Chuck working like a mad man and the four women watching him. Chuck stopped what he was doing to wave to her but he kept up the conversation he was having. The Four women pulled her into the next room. "Sarah something is wrong with Chuck, he's acting like a total cocky asshole to us and he's being rude." Carina said.

"Really?" Sarah asked.

"We think he's stuck again, or something like he was yesterday." Jordan said.

"Okay ladies I need you to take over for him so I can have some words with him." Sarah said dropping into a chair. She was taking pain pills and strong antibiotics and the combination was making her tired.

The women walked out and Chuck walked in a few seconds later. "They said you needed to see me?" He asked with a soft smile.

"They said you were acting like an ass to them and being rude. What's going on?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know, let me think about it for a second." Chuck said looking off into space for a minute. When he blinked and shook his head he sat up taller and he smirked. "Sorry Sarah, we are still working the bugs out I'll go apologize to the other women. We tried to be one personality with three sides and when we agreed to back off of Chuck we ended up untangling ourselves fully. With out us Chuck can't do field work, but without Chuck we are a bit under developed in the personality department. Chuck kind of handled all of that. I took care of making him talk the talk and Mad Dog took care of making him walk the walk. Chuck took care of the rest. Tonight when we get a good chance to sleep we will iron out the kinks." Carmichael said.

"So you're Carmichael?" Sarah said looking at Chuck curiously. And with a bit of fear in her eyes.

"I am. I'm also the guy responsible for all the flirting and inappropriate touching that has gone on in the last month. Sorry for that too. I can say that Chuck never liked any of it but when I found the power to use women I couldn't stop. It's like a drug. Again, Sorry for that." Carmichael said looking down.

"I can understand that. After seduction training I did a lot of bar trolling. Like Chuck I was an ugly duckling until I was turned into this. And the first time I could walk up to any man and get him excited I couldn't stop. After a string of one night stands I stopped. After a while it stops being fun. How far did you end up pushing Chuck?" She asked looking cold.

"I rounded second with a few of the Angels, but I'm the master of the light touch. Very skilled with the NSA girls. Jordan in particular is very weak when it comes to the talk and touch." Carmichael sounding contrite in the beginning but quiet proud by the end.

"I see, later you will tell me everything, but for now I can take that. I can even understand that. I was a young agent once too, but Carmichael, Chuck is my husband. If you do something like that in the future I will drop Chuck off at a mental institution to make sure you never surface again, do you understand me?" She asked in a deadly voice.

"I understand Ma'am. I'll keep my hands to myself. But can I at least have some fun? Flirt with a waitress, smile at a cute girl, or play a stuck up bitch, and make her beg for it. Chuck might not admit it but he liked the power of the play. It really helped him feel like a man for the first time in a long time. After the Jill situation Chuck was a sorry state of a man, and then two years of almost and maybes with you just added to it. After Jill turned out to be Fulcrum he was having major doubts about himself. When we fix this thing inside of our head and make us into one guy again I will just be a part of Chuck. A part that needs to feel powerful. With Chuck in the driver's seat it will never go as far as it did this last month but the confidence gained is one you can understand. You know what it's like to catch some guy looking at you. The power you get from it. Chuck needs that same thing. All guys do, it's why we cheat on our spouses with young dumb girls. With a guy like Chuck you never have to worry about cheating, but you have to let him have that feeling or it will cause me to come out stronger." Carmichael said calmly.

"I can handle flirting, hell I've made a job out of it, and I understand what you're saying, but the second anything like this last month happens I'm pulling the plug." Sarah said.

"That's fine, if you ever feel like me or the angry guy is taking over too much tell Chuck he has to run the program he made. Force him to run it. It will wall us off until he's had a chance to fix it. Now if there is nothing else you need Agent Walker I'll go back to work." Carmichael said.

"Can I talk to Chuck for a minute?" Sarah asked.

"Sure you can. Let me go get him." Carmichael said looking deep in thought for a few seconds before looking at her with a warm smile. "Hey Sarah. Weird right? Well it's official, I'm crazy." Chuck said with a sad smile.

"That's a given. Did you hear all of that?" She asked taking his hand.

"Yes, kind of, it's weird. I was here but not here, you know? Well I guess you don't. any way's I hope to have it all sorted out by the time with get to Ellie. I don't want to freak her out with the whole being three people. How are you with it?" Chuck asked looking fearful.

"Okay, I guess. I mean part of thinks it's normal because all good agents do something similar, just to a lesser extent, but a part of me want's to take you to a head shrink." She said.

"Well, hopefully after I sleep I can fix it back to being less split. It will be more like three sides to the same coin and not three different coins. Until then you're going to get glimpses of the three." Chuck said scratching his head in a totally Chuck way that made her smile.

"I've never met the other guy." She said thinking this whole thing was crazy.

"Would you like to?" Chuck asked looking thoughtful.

"I guess I better get to know him too before he becomes an integrated part of you." She said shaking her head.

"Right. Mad Dog is not much of a talker, but he's there for a reason." Chuck said before dropping down. Chuck sat up tall and rigid. He stretched around in the Suit jacket before standing up and pulling it off with an annoyed look on his face.

"Mad Dog?" She asked.

When Chuck looked at her she flinched back a bit in her seat. His face was set in a hard-line and his eyes were cold and lifeless. "Walker." He said curtly.

"Not a fan of the Suit?" She asked trying to start a conversation.

"Too constricting. Look Walker, this is not going to work. You're not going to get good dinner conversation out of me. I answer direct question and the more I'm out of my cage the more Chuckles is going to act funny so hurry it up so I can send the kid back out to play house with you and I can go back to watching for threats." Mad Dog said in a gruff voice that sounded nothing like Chuck.

"Right let's start with that last sentence. What do you mean act funny?" She asked.

"Look you have a dark side right? You've been stuck like it for a while? Think about the way you acted before you met the kid and stopped thinking with your agent's cap. The longer I'm in control the more robotic and unfeeling the kid gets. That's what happened last night that caused a mass panic because Chuckles hurt some people's feelings." Mad Dog said rolling his eyes.

"You really are a mean bastard aren't you?" She said.

"You know I am, Enforcer. So don't sit there on your high horse and judge me, you've done a lot of bad shit in your day, Butcher, so you keep your judgments to your self and I won't take over unless we're in a gun fight. Now can I go, or do you want to play the frightened wife some more Walker?" He asked giving her a look that said he didn't approve of her just as much as she didn't like him.

"I see this was a total mistake asking to meet you. I'm tempted to have him wall you off." She said looking shocked and angry.

"Why? So you can go back to making yourself feel powerful by dragging the kid into the line of fire and then 'Saving' him? Like I said Walker cut the shit. Let's face facts. You don't like me because I make your ass obsolete. Welcome to the feeling you gave every other CIA agent when you did the same to them. You think you're tough? I can go for days if I have to. I could do twice as good as you and you know it. So go take your bullshit somewhere else and peddle it. I'm not buying. Now send out the Enforcer so I can talk to someone who matters." Mad Dog said coldly.

Sarah looked pissed off for a few seconds before her eyes lost some of their life and her face closed off. "You want the Enforcer then you can have her." She said standing up and giving him a dirty look.

"Good, someone I can talk to. Look keep your ass alive and I'll do the same for the kid. Anything else and he can handle it. If you ever throw down with him I will come out so keep it civil or I will break you. Now lets hand this off to the rational people we share bodies with, and go back to watching over our charges." Mad Dog said watching her closely.

"Agreed." She said in a low deep voice before shaking her head. "What the hell was that?" She asked looking at Chuck. When he looked back at her he was her Chuck.

"We both have a dark side. We all do. We don't turn it on we turn ourselves off, and let our darkness take over. Now lets not do that again. It was creepy. Now you know what I have inside my head. You still want to marry me?" Chuck asked softly.

"I do, but if you start to go crazy on me I want you to wall them off." She said coming around the table to hold him.

"Agreed. I love you so much. I'm going to fix this, but for now I need to get back in that room. I have to get as much stuff done as I can before we leave." Chuck said.

"Okay, I'll work with Morgan to make sure we have everything for the trip. See you in an hour." She said kissing him.

When she pulled back she watched Chuck smile turn into a smirk again. "What, no sugar for me?" Carmichael asked.

"You get to work. You horn dog." She said pushing him off of her.

"Whatever, it's not like we haven't fooled around before. Remember Not Richard? That was me. I know you like me. You came for me so hard before. Tell the truth, you like the idea of me being in here so you can get your rocks off like that again. Once we integrate Chuck will know how to Fuck you like that again. Make you cum like a horny teenager. Like you want to." Carmichael said softly into her ear before licking her neck in a sensitive stop and made her shiver. "You going to come for me Sarah? Cum for me like a bitch in heat? On the hood of my car like a slut? You want me to fuck you in public again? You were so wet that night. You want to go do it now." He asked nipping her ear lobe as he grabbed her ass roughly.

"Oh god." She moaned.

"How about right here on the table with the door unlocked? You think one of the Angels might walk in and see me fucking you like a slut? Taking you over and over again until you scream?" He asked jamming his right hand down the front of her Yoga Pants and feeling her wet sex. "You're wet. I like when you get wet. I like licking it up. You taste divine. Maybe I'll just toss you down on this table and make a feast out of your hot little body? Would you like that? Would you like to be feasted on? Licked? Nibbled? Sucked? Taken? Are you tired of being in charge? Telling him what to do? I can fuck you like you want. Tell me." He said slipping two fingers into her hot wet sex as he pushed her back against the table.

"Yes." She moaned.

"That's what I wanted to hear. Now cum for me slut. Cum for your man." He said rubbing her pink pearl hard as he kissed her roughly. She shivered and came with a shuddering breath as she fell loss in his arms. "Look at me Sarah. Look at me." He said holding her face in his left hand as he sat her on the table. "You can have that anytime you want it but you have to admit you just cheated on Chuck. Look me in the eye and say yes." He said without any feeling.

"Yes." She said looking close to tears.

"Feel this." he said placing her hand on his limp dick. "Chuck would have gotten hard for you, but I can't. I can't get excited ever. Chuck is the only one that can control that part of this body. Just think, if I did that with you and I didn't feel anything then think about the rest of the times I did it. You know I didn't feel anything when I touched his Angels. So when we merge, I don't want you giving him any shit for it. I did that. The man is innocent. A lot more innocent than you are right now. You knowingly let me get you off. Just know that Chuck saw it and he didn't mind one bit. He knows you like me. It's why he made me. Besides all the agent shit he made me to be your wet dream. It's what I'm here for. To make sure you don't get bored and go looking for something else, because with me you will never get board, and you can stop feeling guilty. I'm Chuck after all. This is his body. I'm just a part of him. The fact that I can do that to you makes him happy. Chuck isn't dominant in anything, but with me I can show him how. Now I have a conference call with the President. I'll see you around my little slut." He said licking his fingers as he walked out of the room.

Sarah collapsed into a chair and tried to get her bearings. Carina came in, took one look at her, and laughed. "Carmichael?" She asked.

"The man is a master. I'm ashamed to admit I like what he can do to me." She said looking red.

"Why, he's still Chuck. Who care's what he's calling himself. It's like role-playing."

"Chuck said the same thing." Sarah said shaking her head.

"There you go! Now tell me what he did to you and don't leave out any of the nasty details." Carina said pulling up a chair next the her with a smirk on her face.

"He just talked to me. Told me things. I can't even remember all of them but he knows how to touch something very deep inside of me. A part of me hates it but then, a part of me really, Really likes it." Sarah said blushing bright red.

"Wow. I wish I had someone who could do that to me." Carina said looking sad.

"We'll find you a nice boy who loves you and Chuck can teach him how to do it." Sarah said smiling at her.

"You think so?" Carina asked looking hopeful.

"You really want a Chuck of your own don't you? It's not a joke?" Sarah asked shocked.

"I do. Most of the women on the team do. I didn't know until recently. But the idea of a guy like Chuck, one that's nice and sweet and good to me, and he still can do all the things you said he just did? I want one." Carina said blushing herself.

"Wow, I never thought I would see the day." Sarah said looking shocked.

"Shut up Bitch. I just, I have a family again with you guys and I kind of want someone to share it with." Carina said.

"It's like the fact that you're becoming a real Girl. We will find you a Chuck. Until then you can share all of your thoughts and joy with me. I love you sister, and I'm happy you're on the team with me." Sarah said holding her best friend.

In the conference room Chuck saw the women working on different things. "Hey Ladies. Can I get your attention please? I'd just like to say I'm sorry for being short with you. I just figured out how to get my head on last night and I didn't get a good night's sleep. I just want to say thank you, to all of you. I know most of you are hurt and tired. I want to say thank you for sticking around to handle the work load for me. I wish I could stay and help but as you can see I'm starting to fray around the edges. As more team members get back put them to work and take some time off. When everything is done I want you all to hop on a jet and fly out to the island to join us. We are going to relax and just live on the beach for a few weeks. No bad guys. No files. No missions. No nothing." Chuck said smiling. "Now huddle up and let's get in one good group hug. It's the last on for a few days." Chuck said opening his arms. Kate almost ran to him. "My Tall Angel." He said. Jordan walked up and smiled as Chuck pulled her into his arms. "My Wise Angel." he said.

"There you go again calling me old." She said smiling.

"Never old. Wise, strong, and beautiful." He said patting her on the back. "You too Dunwoody. Family group hug." He said.

"Okay, fine." She said rolling her eyes, but she sighed when she joined the group.

"Family. That's what you ladies are to me. Even you Victoria. You're not an Angel, but you're still a sister to me. Now lets finish the important things up, so I can go make plans for your stay on the island. I think I'm going to buy up the place for a few weeks so you all can invite your real families too." He said as the broke up and went back to work.

An hour later Chuck, Sarah and his parents were being driven to the Airfield by Morgan in his BMW. When they got there the black Jet was sitting on the run way waiting for them. "Sarah can you get them in and settled I need to go over a few things with Morgan." He said handing her his two small bags.

"Sure." She said smiling.

"Morgan. I have a few things I need to talk to you about." Chuck said opening the trunk and pulling a Sig 229 out. He took the gun from his back and handed it to Morgan. "I know Carina put you in charge of cleaning my black suit. I need you to put this gun with it along with these shades." Chuck said handing the gun and expensive designer sunglasses over. "In a few days when Alex comes back to L.A. I want you to round-up her, Anna, and Scott and come out to the Island. "Anna and Scott need some time away and so do you and Alex." Chuck said.

"What about Jordan?" Morgan asked.

"She won't leave when there's work to be done. She'll stay on until Casey does. She's cut from the same cloth." Chuck said grabbing his other bag from the trunk.

"Understood fearless leader." Morgan said smiling.

"My little buddy. I know I can always count on you. Hang in there for a few more days and don't let the ladies push you around too much. See you in a few days. I'll save you a spot on the beach and a fruity drink." Chuck said hugging his short friend.

"Thanks for everything Chuck." Morgan said and Chuck knew he meant for everything. Not just his trust and confidence but for bringing him into the team.

"Always little buddy. Now I've got to go." Chuck said seeing Sarah standing by the door of the jet.

Chuck slid on a pair of Raybans and walked on to the jet. The pilot shut the door and Sarah pulled him down in the seat next the her. "What was that about?" She asked as they took off.

"I had to give him the rest of my Carmichael things. My sun glasses and my Gun… well it's Casey's gun, but it's the one I used for the mission. I want it to stay with the black suit. I don't need it for this trip. I won't need it for a while. From now on I'm going to be more of an idea guy. Logistics, planning, and running RI. Sam's sister Bobby, her boyfriend Danny, Morgan and Jordan are going to run things back home with me as my team. You'll run spy missions and Casey with run tactical and back up like he always does. I won't need to put on the suit until It's needed. Until Carmichael is needed. Or Mad Dog. Until then I'm not wearing the suit." Chuck said calmly.

"But Chuck, just because the mission is over doesn't mean you hang it up. There's always going to be a next mission." She said holding his hand.

"And there will be a whole team of highly skilled agents to do them. As you can see I'm not going to go back to dressing like a bum, or stop carrying a gun, or turn off the other sides of me, but I'm not going back into the field until I'm needed. Until we have no other option, or if someone is in trouble. Why do you think I'm keeping Jordan and Morgan in L.A.? We are going to keep the B1 gassed up and ready to fly at a moments notice. Mad Dog and Carmichael are a phone call away, but I don't need to be out there doing the job. I saw what it did to you, to us, and I didn't like it at all. I end up doing things I'm not proud of and you lost your cool because Carmichael pushes you out of the way. So I'll stay in L.A. and run things and when you need Carmichael or the other guy I'll put on the suit and come out into the field." Chuck said smiling.

"I'm not going to say a part of me dislikes this idea because I really do like it, I don't like you being out there doing dangerous things, but Chuck I don't like the idea of you burying parts of yourself for me. I know what would happen if I'm kept out of the field for too long and I don't think it's right for me to hold you back. To stop you from doing your job." She said feeling guilty.

"Hey, Sarah it's fine. It's not like I'm going to be just sitting at home waiting for you to come back. I'm going to be working just as hard as you are. I have to keep up the flow of information to you guys in the field and run a huge tech company. I have plenty of things to do." Chuck said smiling at her.

"If you need help I can help you run things Chuck. I might not be good for corporate stuff but your old man is pretty good with a computer." Steven said.

"And I can help you run logistics." Mary said smiling at the two of them.

"As much as I appreciate the offer guys, you two are retired. You spent the last twenty years underground. I want you two to live it up. Relax, travel, sit on the beach and sip cold drinks all day. You two have given enough of your lives to this life, you two should live a little." Chuck said.

"But we missed so much of your lives, we want to help you and Ellie as much as we can." Mary said.

"And you will by relaxing. I'm sure Ellie will be having kids soon, spend some time playing grandma and grandpa. In a few years if you both feel the itch to do something we can talk about you helping out but for now I want you guys to have some time to be you." Chuck said smiling before getting up. "Now if you will excuse me I see a couch back there and I need to get a few hours of sleep to get my head all sorted out." He said kissing Sarah and patting his parents on the shoulder as he passed them on the way to the couch. He took off his jacket, placed his gun in the cup holder and laid out on the couch with his jacket over him like a blanket.

"Sarah, what did he mean by get his head sorted out?" Mary asked.

"I think I better start from the beginning. On Christmas eve a mad gunman crashed a junk car through the front of the Buy More and took the store hostage…" Sarah told them about everything, the threat to Ellie's life, the mental break, the downloading of skills, and the problem he was having keeping his three personalities in check. "And now he's trying to get the three personalities to work together in his head. I'm pretty sure he should see a psychiatrist, but I think if he can get it together by himself then we should leave it alone. With all the things going on in his head I'm shocked he hasn't cracked yet. Since I showed up two years ago he's taken almost everything in stride. Including Brice showing up twice to make his life worse, a failed attempt at a relationship with the nice sandwich shop girl, and his ex showing up to take him back only to turn around and try to kill us all because she was a Fulcrum agent. I think the threat to his sister was the straw that broke the camels back." She said looking at Chuck sleeping.

"I hope he's okay." Mary said.

"He'll be fine, he's smart enough to know his limits and he knows his own head very well. If he thinks he needs help he'll get help, but for now lets let him work it out. I trust him to know his own head." Sarah said.

"I hope you're right." Mary said.


	34. Chapter 34

Chuck stood before Carmichael and Mad Dog. "Hey guys." He said smiling at the two as he looked around the room in his head. What once was a blank space was now an office. On one side of the room sat a big dark wood desk with a martini tray, bottles of booze, and a Macbook pro. Seated in a bid black leather office chair was Carmichael. On the other side of the room in a plane desk sat Mad Dog in a wood chair. On his desk he had a pile of guns and knives. Sitting in front of him was a stripped MP5K.

"Hey chuck, I've been running the numbers and you're not going to like this. If we try to merge we are going to take over your body at some point." Carmichael said sitting back in his chair.

"Why?" Chuck asked walking over to his side of the room.

"We are more dominant than you are. I'm more dominant in everyday life and he's just dominant all together. This is not going to work." Carmichael said.

"Sure it will. All we have to do is make the perfect balance of all three of us and absorb it like I did with you." Chuck said.

"So we make a fourth Chuck? What are you a gluten for punishment kid?" Mad Dog asked.

"No, I'm serious. Think about it, we'll make a perfect Chuck. One that has all of your spy skills and your ability to do violence and most of my personality. That guy will be Chuck Carmichael. When I'm out in the world I'll be that guy. Mostly me but with a little bit of you both thrown in for style and safety. When I'm on a mission you can merge with Chuck so he has more skills and less of my feelings. Then if bad things happen Mad Dog can merge with Chuck and kick ass. At night we all come here and make adjustments to the Chuck personality. In fact, I need a desk." Chuck said and a cool IKEA kidney bean-shaped white desk with a comfortable mesh office chair appeared between the two other desk and Chuck sat behind the desk.

"Cool." He said relaxing back into his chair. "Okay guys lets start building." Chuck said standing up and a clone of himself stood where he was standing a minute ago in his boxer shorts. "Guys meet Chuck Carmichael. He has no personality at all, he's just a suit like Iron Man. Now this is where we build from." Chuck said walking over to his clone. "I like the hair and the beard, what about you two?" He asked.

"So do I." Carmichael said.

"Don't care." Mad Dog grunted.

"Okay, clothes don't matter because he will wear what every we wear in the outside world." Chuck said and the clone was dressed in the same blue suit he was wearing. "But the first thing we have to do is loosen the tie and un button the top button. Chuck is more casual." Chuck said fixing the clone's tie.

"Agreed. I'll be the more well dressed man in the group." Carmichael said.

"And I will ditch the tie and jacket when I take over. Too restricting and a tie is a fighting hazard." Mad Dog said.

"Now how are we going to add some of us to him?" Carmichael asked walking around the desk to stand next to Chuck.

"The same way I made you guys, we add props to signifying parts of us in him. Like this." Chuck said and the clone was wearing all black leather low top chucks. On his ring finger was his platinum wedding band and on his wrist was his Rolex with the angel inscription. "I'm adding my relaxed nature to him, as well as my love and caring." Chuck said. "Now you try." He said waving to Carmichael.

Carmichael looking at the clone before looking down at the PPK in his right hand and the martini glass in his left. They were a representation of what he was. The gun was his agent skills and the martini glass was his charms. He smiled and the clone was holding a Sig 229 in his right hand. "I added some agent skills. Not all of them, but enough to let you talk the talk and run things. If you ever go on a mission I can take over and supply the rest." Carmichael said smiling.

"Good idea. I'm going to need to sound good when I talk to a general or something like that." Chuck said turning to Mad Dog. "What are you adding my violent friend?" He asked smiling.

Mad Dog looked up from his work and grunted. The clone now wearing a thin tactical vest under his jacket. "Protection." Mad Dog said going back to cleaning his gun.

"Thank you Mad Dog." Chuck said and smiled when he got no response.

"Brut." Carmichael muttered.

"Leave him be. Mad Dog has a very hard job to do. He takes on the burden of doing all the bad shit we do. He's also always angry, fixing his guns and sharpening his knives helps to relax him. Now let's try this." Chuck said touching the clone. He sat up on the couch and shook his head.

"You okay now Chuck?" Sarah asked walking over to him.

"I think so, I need to run some tests to make sure things are working right." Chuck said standing up. "Kiss me." He said with a soft smile.

"Okay." She said leaning into him and kissing him. Chuck returned the kiss full of love and Sarah smiled. "Wow. That was good." She said smiling.

"Okay, test two." Chuck said his eyes shifted and his smile became a smirk. Without warning Chuck grabbed her and kissed her passionately. Unlike the first kiss that filled her with that worm fuzzy feeling in her chest this kiss made her hot and excited.

"Wow. Was that Carmichael?" She asked starting to recognize the differences.

"Yes and no. it was me but with more of him shining through. Okay, last test." Chuck said standing tall and dropping his suit coat on the couch. "Hit me." He said.

"What?" She asked.

"Throw a good punch. I know your right arm is hurt so hit me with a good jab." Chuck said flexing his arms.

"Are you sure." She looked at him.

"Yes, just do it Walker." Chuck said.

"You asked for it." She said throwing a quick jab at his chin.

Chuck blocked it, grabbed her arm, and took out her legs setting her on the couch before she could even figure out what was going on. "What the hell was that?" She asked looking shocked.

"Mad Dog. I have to explain some things. But first in need you to try that last one again this time without warning. Are you up for it?" He asked holding her hand.

"To tell you the truth I don't know if I can. That happened a lot faster than I thought it would." She said blinking.

"Oh God, are you okay?" He asked dropping to the floor next to her.

"I'm fine, but I'm way too hurt to be tossed around like that." She said smiling at him.

"I'm so sorry, I'm not in full control. I've created a kind of Co-Op with the other two guys. Chuck, the body runs on a mix of all of us. My nice guy personality, Carmichael's knowledge of spy craft, and Mad Dog's situational awareness. When I'm walking around in everyday life, like right now I'm in control. When I'm spooked, or attacked, or if I'm walking into a gun fight Mad Dog takes over and my nice guy personality takes a back seat to his skills and cold demeanor. Like putting on my game face. When I'm needed for a mission, or if I'm giving an Important briefing, or if I wanted to pick you up at a bar as not Richard, then I take a back seat to Carmichael so I can use his skills and confidence." He said smiling.

"So you're still split in your head?" She asked touching his cheek.

"I have to or the other two guys would end up taking over in the long run. They're stronger than me. Over time the mix of personalities will get fine tuned, every night the three of us will make adjustments to the base model Chuck so I can act like the man I need to be at all times. To the outside observer I'll look and sound like I did for the last month, but this time I'll be in control so the other two guys can't do things I don't want then to do. If this works well then I'll make different mixes of the three and store the… recipe? I guess would be the right word in my brain like presets. Right now it's going to be a bit like a car with three gears. Chuck, Carmichael, Mad Dog. I can be your Chuck, the guy you love, cute, lovable, dependable Chuck. Or I can be Carmichael, the guy that you don't like as much, the guy that can talk the talk, and get things done. Or I can be Mad Dog, the man you fear, the man that kills, and the man we all need when the chips are down. I planed and killed 280 people yesterday and the reason I'm not crying right now as I tell you that number is because he did it. I was sitting back seat while he worked." Chuck said softly.

"I can understand that but will you always be that ridged in your personality. Will you always be so distinguishable? Because, Chuck people with split personality go crazy." She said looking worried.

"But I'm not going to go crazy. I'm there already. The train for crazy town left the station a long time ago." Chuck said smiling.

"What are you talking about Chuck?" She asked softly.

"I was blasted with an early version of the Intersect when I was six. What do you think that does to a brain when it's growing? Being blasted by the first download at full speed on my birthday two years ago? All the near death experiences with out training? The adrenaline highs mixed with flashes? Keeping up our fake relationship? Lying to family? To friends? To myself? A man starts to lose his grip on things. By the time Ned took the Buy More hostage I was more than primed for a full mental spilt. If not a split then a room with padded walls. You might think I'm going crazy but the truth is I am crazy. The other personalities are there to take some of the stress off of me. Off my mind. You had two years of intense training, and before that you had years with your father pulling cons. You are comfortable living two lives. I never was. Now I don't have to because I am two lives, three if you want to be technical. And switching between them will keep me sane. Because I, Chuck, can not kill. I can't talk to women. Not the way I need to, to do the job. And I can't talk to generals and Presidents with out shitting myself. To be respected. To do the job. To even run the team, I need them." He said.

"Okay." Sarah said smiling.

"Okay?" He asked smiling.

"With you, if you have a plan, or an idea, and you can explain it to me, then I'll always say okay. You always think of everything. Your mind works like a computer, you think of ever possible outcome, every possible way of doing something and you find the best way. It's what I love about you. So if you can do this, and maintain your sanity. Then I believe you. Now I've sat on my ass long enough. What did you want me to do?" She asked standing up.

"Are you sure?" He asked standing up too.

"Sure, I'm tougher then you remember? So what do you need?" She asked smiling.

"I need to repeat the same test but faster. Last time I switched before each test. This time I want to try it without thinking too hard." Chuck said.

"Okay." She said before throwing a punch without warning. Chuck blocked it. Grabbed her arm, took out her legs and sat her on the couch. "I'd say that worked well." She said blinking.

"Sorry, I tried to put you down as softly as I could but I still don't have full control over Mad Dog, that's something I'm going to have to fix. Unless we're faced with immanent death I don't like him having too much control. Even now I had to fight him to keep from hurting you." Chuck said dropping into the seat next to her.

"It's fine. If I wasn't half drugged and full of stitches that would have been nothing. By tonight I should feel a lot better. I know my body. I heal pretty fast because I have a good immune system. I'd hold off on fixing it too much. You need him to keep you alive. Now what's next?" She asked.

But Chuck didn't answer. Instead she found herself in a powerful kiss this took away her ability to think straight. Just as she was getting her bearings back he slipped his hand under her shirt and cupped her right breast making her moan. Before she knew what was going on he was gone. "What?" She said looking around confused.

"Carmichael works just fine." Chuck said smirking.

"I'll say. Now get back over here and finish what you started mister." She said grabbing his face in her hands and kissing him.

"Sarah! My parents are right there." He said blushing.

"So, they know what it's like to be young and in love." She said un-tucking his shirt.

"Sarah! Not now. My mother is right there!" Chuck said pointing over his shoulder.

"Don't mind us, we have these nice big headphones!" Mary said laughing.

"Mom!" Chuck said looking shocked.

"She can't hear you Chuck, she has her headphones on, I'm putting mine on now. Have it him Sarah!" Steven said with a smirk.

"I knew I liked your folks for a reason." She said kissing his neck.

"Sarah I can't!" He said laughing as he pushed her off of him.

"Carmichael could." She said smirking.

"Sure he could, he could make you scream, beg even, but he can't get it up. Not without me. I control that part of my body. And I am not going to have sex with you ten feet away from my mom and dad. I will however, cuddle up with you and hold you. How bout that? Will that do?" He asked pushing her up and laying out. He pulled her down on top of him. "How's this?" He asked holding her the way she liked.

"This is not as good, but it will do Chuck." She said tiredly.

"Go to sleep, I am too. I need to make some fine tuning, you're asleep already and I'm talking to myself." He said laughing softly.

Ellie's watch beeped. She sat up and looked at Devon surfing. She smiled. When they first got here he could barely get up on the board and now he was riding the waves like he was born on a surf board. Reaching into her bag she pulled out the little black phone and turned it on. The first week they got here she would turn on the phone at five and wait for a call. That first week was a real nail biter. When Casey called on the eight-day telling her everything was going good, it did a lot to put her at ease. After that Casey called once a day to tell them everything was okay. That Chuck was okay. That the mission was going good. They never knew what time the call was coming so they turned on the phone for ten minutes every hour on the hour. Then they turned it back off. "Hey babe, is it time?" Devon said coming out of the ocean to sit with her. That was another thing that this trip did. It cemented their relationship by cutting out all distractions. No rotating shifts at the hospital, no having to schedule a date weeks in advance and have to cancel last-minute because a bad ten car pile up happened three blocks away and twenty people needed medical attention. Most of all, it was not being so tired that they just passed out holding each other. It wasn't until they got to the island, but they figured out they hadn't had sex in weeks. After that first eight days, things really started looking up in that department. She woke up pleasantly sore every morning. They spent their days on the beach napping and surfing. Eating fruit and fish, drinking good wine and tropical drinks served in cocoanut shells. At night they made out under the stars and took it back to the room where things really got interesting. A week ago she found a shop that sold novelties while walking around the resort. She found a deck of playing cards with different sexual positions and act on then and every night they would draw ten cards and see how far they got before passing out. "Thinking about the playing cards?" Devon asked smiling.

"How did you know?" She asked.

"You always have this blushing smile on your face when you think about it. What do you say we go back to the room and see if we can get a few cards in before dinner?" He asked holding her hand.

"I think you have a good idea." She said picking up the phone to shut it off but it rang. The number didn't look like the one Casey normally used but he was the only one with the number. "Hello?" She answered.

"Hey Ellie." Chuck said.

"Chuck! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Is the mission over? Are we being called back?…"

"Whoa! Ellie! Calm down sis. Look over your right shoulder."

Ellie turned around and saw a tall dark-haired man in an expensive blue suit. He had short hair and a beard but she knew it was him. "Chuck!" She said sprinting up the beach and jumping on him.

"Easy Ellie." He said as she started crying. "Relax, I'm home. I'm fine. It's over. We won." He said rubbing her back as he held her.

"Hey Bro." Devon said joining the group hug.

"Where's Sarah?" She asked looking around.

"She waiting for me to call her. I wanted to talk to you first." Chuck said leading them over to a table. "The first thing I wanted to talk to you about is my job. Are we okay with it?" He asked.

"We are most certainly not okay with it! We are going to have a very long conversation about it. You are going to tell me everything but for now, yes we are okay." She said still holding his hand like she was afraid he would float away.

"Good. For the record I never wanted to lie to you about this, and I don't know how much I can tell you but I want you to know what I've done, the lying, it was to protect you." He said smiling sadly.

"I know, but I'm still mad about it. We tell each other everything Chuck. We always have. How am I going to be able to help you if you keep things from me?" She said smiling as she hugged him. "Now where is your better half?" She said.

"One more thing before I call her." He said. "I don't know how much you know about the mission I was on."

"Almost nothing." Ellie said.

"Right. Well the mission was to infiltrate an underground intelligence agency. I was courted because of my knowledge of computers, and a fake hatred of the CIA. My knowledge was enough to get me a meeting with the head of this organization. Ted Roark. That's right, Roark, like Roark Industries. For three weeks I worked for him fixing his computer system and gathering intel. One piece of intel was called Project Prometheus. In the file I found out Roark started this computer program back in the 70's with two other men, one of those men was our father. When the government pulled the plug on the program Roark kid napped Marry Bartowski, our mother. Remember when she left one day and never came back?" Chuck asked softly.

"Yes." Ellie said as tears slid down her cheeks.

"She was taken and our father was forced into working for Roark. Later when Dad made a discovery he was kidnapped too." Chuck said.

"Oh God." She said looking shocked.

"Over the course of the take down and the subsequent interrogation Roark told me where he was keeping them. I took a team of agents and got them out." Chuck said standing up and waving. "Ellie, I found Mom and Dad." He said holding her up as she collapsed at the sight of them walking towards them. Mary rushed up and pulled Ellie into a hug holding her as they cried. Devon stood with Chuck as Steven and Sarah walked over. "Devon meet your father-in-law." Chuck said.

"Nice to meet you." Steven with his awkward smile.

"This is Awesome!" Devon said pulling the tall thin man into a hug.

"Oh Ellie, my little girl! Look at you! I've missed so much." Mary said holding her daughter at arm's length to get a better look at her.

"I don't even know what to say." Ellie said still looking shocked.

"How about we order some drinks and just talk until we get where we need to." Chuck said waving over a waiter over.

For the next half hour they talked about the underground bunker, and what was happening next.

"Next we all take some time off. While you two have been having fun in the sun some of us have been working hard." Chuck said smiling.

"Hey, worrying about you is a full-time job." Ellie said boxing him in the back of the head.

"Right, like I was saying, we need time off. I rented out this place for the next three weeks. It's off-season so after the few guests staying here leave we have this place to ourselves. In a few days the team will start arriving in groups and by the end of the week they should all be here. I think Snow is staying in L.A. to help his wife with treatment but the rest should be here. Some of them with family members. Then we have a wedding to plan for." Chuck said.

"I was thinking we could set up something on the beach. Something simple." Sarah said.

"A wedding! We have so much to do! We have to find a dress! We have to plan the menu! We have to get flowers!" Ellie said excitedly.

"Relax Ellie, I'm a simple girl, I want a simple wedding. Nothing flashy or complicated." Sarah said smiling.

"Oh, okay I guess." Ellie said.

"You really wanted to plan something big didn't you?" Sarah asked.

"Maybe." Ellie said blushing.

"Practice for your own wedding?" Sarah asked.

"Maybe." Ellie said laughing.

"Look Ellie, you have my permission to do what ever you want as long as I get three things. One, a comfortable dress. Nothing big or puffy, or hot, and uncomfortable. Two, a short wedding on the beach. And three, I want Chuck to wear the black tux I packed. That one is important." She said blushing.

"Does he look good in this tux?" Ellie asked smirking.

"Maybe." Sarah said looking flushed.

"Ooooo." Ellie said laughing.

"Leave her alone Ellie, wait until the boys go away and then we can get the details." Mary said smiling.

"Well that's our cue to leave guys." Chuck said getting up. "Devon point us in the direction of the bar." He said.

"It's this way." Devon said leading them off.

"Well at lest you trained him well." Mary said watching them walk away.

"That wasn't me. I got him like that. Ellie did an amazing job raising him." Sarah said smiling.

"Yes, but the new confidence, and the grown up attitude is all you. Just a month ago he wasn't this mature." Ellie said.

"A deep cover mission will do that to you." Sarah said deep in thought.

"No you don't!" Ellie said scooting over to sit next to her. "You don't get off that easy. Now what's this about a tux?" She asked.

The three men walked into the almost empty sports bar and Chuck waved over the bar tender. "Three glasses of your finest Scotch!" Chuck said before turning to the look at his father and soon to be brother. "Oh, did you guys want something?" He asked smiling.

"Funny." Steven said taking one of the tumblers with a laugh.

"Good one bro." Devon said laughing. "Oh, and Chuck, I wanted to say thank you. This trip was the best thing that happened to me ever. Ellie and I have never been this close. I don't know how much it cost but I'm going to pay you back for it." Devon said seriously.

"Think nothing of it brother. Knowing you two were here and safe took a huge weight off my back. For the last three weeks I've been pretending to be a bad guy. Knowing that Roark couldn't touch you two if something bad happened allowed me to pay fast and loose." Chuck said.

"What have you been doing? I mean, a month ago we thought you worked at the Buy More." Devon said.

"You want to know what I do?" Chuck asked. He reached down, pulled his pants leg up, grabbed the throwing knife, and flung it behind his back without looking. "Go get the knife." He said picking up his drink.

Devon looked shocked for a second before he got up and looked at the back wall. The knife was stuck in the dart board. As he walked closer he saw it was sticking out of the bull's-eye. By the time he got back to the table he was slack-jawed. "How?" He asked.

"Skills." Chuck said with a confident smirk.

"Don't by it Devon, all his skills came form a computer." Steven said laughing.

"Dad! Come on! I was cool for the first time and you totally killed it." Chuck said pouting with a smile.

"You don't need skills, and you don't need to look cool. I taught you a long time ago to always be yourself. I man doesn't need to show off, he just needs to be himself." Steven said shaking his head.

"But come on, I have something in me for the first time worth showing off and it's a waste if I keep it all bottled up inside. What's point in being able to kill every person in this bar, even the drunk in the bathroom without getting up from my chair, or spilling my drink, if I can't tell you and get the look of respect from Devon here. Like I'm getting right now." Chuck said taking a drink from his tumbler.

"I don't know Chuck, the question is why do you think you need those skills in the first place? You're not going to be doing field work. You're going to be running a tech company." Steven asked in a tone that should have made Chuck back down and think about the sage advice his father was trying to tell him, but to this Chuck. The guy that was so much more than a computer geek it rubbed him in a very wrong way.

Chuck looked over his glass at his father. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked softly but in a tone that made it to Steven's ears just fine.

"What I mean, Charles, I thought I taught you to be the kind of man that didn't need to threaten people, or resort to violence." Steven said pushing back.

Chuck finished his drink and set the tumbler on the table. "First of all, you weren't around long enough to teach me shit. Secondly it was all fine and good to be violent to bust your sorry brain-dead ass out of an underground bunker yesterday. You were fine with it yesterday right? That's right, you don't remember because you took the cowards way out and shielded your mind." Chuck said standing up.

"I did that to stop Roark!" Steven said standing up too.

"And you know why?" Chuck asked stepping close to Steven. "Because all those years ago you didn't have the balls or the training to bust your wife out in the first place. Instead you tucked your tail between your legs and did Roark's biding. Well let me tell you something, if my wife was ever taken I'd track her down and kill ever last man standing in my way. Because unlike you I have the fucking sack to get shit done. So you keep your passive aggression bullshit to yourself. You don't like the way I turned out then you should have found a way out of that bunker and set me right a long fucking time ago. Because right now, you're nothing to me but a fucking burden. A child I have to watch out for. Make sure you don't have any brain damage from the Intersect. Make sure you have a place to stay. Make sure your set up. You left the house when I was nine, now twenty-five years later I have to take care of you." Chuck said tossing a few big bills on the table. "Fucking bullshit." Chuck said before walking out of the bar.

"What the hell was that all about?" Devon asked looking really shocked.

"That was something I've been waiting to hear all day." Steven said retaking his seat. "He's been thinking about all that ever since he walked into our room at the bunker. A part of him, not a big part, but a part, really hates that he found us." Steven said finishing his drink and ordering another one with a wave.

"Come on Steven, Chuck is happy to have you back. We all are." Devon said.

"I don't think Eleanor and Chuck are as happy as they think. You have to remember they didn't know we were taken. They thought Mary walked out on us and then a few years later, I did the same thing to them. For a long time it was just the two of them. I can just imagine the hate they leveled on us. The anger. Because of the hurt. Mary hides it better but she's waiting for the same thing from Ellie. We were gone for all the tough times. The pains and the stress of growing up and fending for themselves. Now when their lives are going good, when they have it all worked out we are tossed on them like abandoned children. Now, after struggling to get to a good place by themselves, they have to take care of the people that left them to grow up alone." Steven said wiping a stay tear that slid down his cheek.

"I don't know what to… this is not awesome." Devon said looking confused.

"No it's not awesome. What's worse, Chuck is going to go off somewhere and start kicking himself for mouthing off to me. Because that's the kind of man Ellie raised him to be. A good, kind man, that hates himself for feeling like he does even though he has every right to feel that way. He has more right to feel the way he does then the way he's been treating us." Steven said sighing as he sat back in his seat.

"Is there something… I'm not even sure were to start here." Devon said.

"You can help by getting Sarah and telling her what I just told you. She's the only one that can help him right now.

"On it." Devon said rushing off to find Sarah.


	35. Chapter 35

A half hour later and Sarah found Chuck. It was easy really, you just had to follow the sound of gun shots. She found him in a grassy field off to the side of the resort shooting clay pidgins in the setting sun. Something most people couldn't even try to do, but he was hitting them as fast as the attendant was setting them off. "Nice Shooten' Tex!" She said walking up behind him.

"Time!" Chuck called and the attendant stopped. "You can go, I'll finish of the box." Chuck said handing the young man some money.

"Very good Sir. You are amazing. It was fun to watch you." He said before walking away.

Chuck waited until he was gone before loading up the six orange disks left in the box at once and hitting the catch. As the six shot into the air Chuck pulled his Sig229 from his back and blasted them all.

"I see Mad Dog is still your emotional, as well as your physical protection." She said taking the gun from his hand and walking him over to a bench off to the side.

"Sarah, I don't know what I said, I can't even remember what set me off in the first place, but I gave it to my father with both barrels." Chuck said looking close to tears.

"You spoke your mind and you told him the truth. You resent the fact that you have to take care of parents that didn't take care of you. It's even worse for you. A month ago you though your folks abandoned you and Ellie. Then a couple of weeks ago you read that file that said Roark killed your parents. After that you felt guilty for hating them all these years. Then you found out they were alive yesterday, and you don't know what to feel. Chuck I can't tell you how to feel, but if a part of you resents the fact that you have to look out for your folks then you need to tell me. You need to talk to me. It's what I'm here for. It's also what Morgan and, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but, what Melissa is here for. You can talk to us. Tell us things like that. If you let things like that bottle up then you end up telling off your father and shooting things. Now do you feel better?" She asked.

"Maybe, I don't know." Chuck said leaning into Sarah and sighing.

"Well what do you feel now?" She asked holding his head to her chest and running her fingers through his hair.

"Embarrassed and guilty." Chuck said.

"And what about the other two guys?" She said

"Mad Dog doesn't care. Carmichael, well he's torn. He thought the tell off was warranted, but, he also thinks I need to get over this to get on with my life. I agree, but I don't know. I'm just so pissed off inside I don't think I can go apologize right now. I just want to go somewhere quite and be with you. I missed you. It's been close to a week since we've been together and I think the tension is adding to the stress I'm under and that's just pissing me off more." Chuck said running his hand over her ribs.

"I think that might be a good idea. We have a beautiful suite with a big ass soft bed about a hundred feet from here, let's go." She said standing up and taking his hand. She pulled and he stood up stiffly. "You okay?" She asked touching his chest.

"Fine, it's just, when Mad Dog takes over for too long I feel stiff afterwards from the rigid way he stands." Chuck said stretching until he heard some pops and snaps in his back. "Ohhhh, that felt good." Chuck groaned.

"Come on tough guy. I'll rub your back. Then you can rub my back, and then you can rub my front. It's been six days and I'm hungry." She said running her hand down his chest to the front of his pants. "Some one likes the idea." She said cupping his package.

"All of me likes that idea. I don't think I'm going to be able to hold out long enough the do the rub downs. I think I'm just going to have my dessert first." He said grabbing her ass and pulling her close. "I think afterwards we can go for the romantic shit, for now I just want to fuck my insanely hot wife." He said kissing her hard, and then picking her up by the ass. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

"I like the sound of that. No cute shit just sex, raw a nasty. Later we can cuddle and pamper. Right now I need it too." She said as he walked them to the room. It took a bit of fumbling with the key card but they got it on the third try. Chuck walked her over to the bed and set her down. He started kissed her but she pushed him off her. "No, I want you to strip. Make it hot for me and then fuck me. No kissing or touching or any of that soft bullshit you use on everyone. Now get me excited. Strip." She said smiling a dirty smile that did things to Chuck.

"Oh, you want the show?" Chuck asked smirking as he dropped his jacket. "You want the Chip and Dale?" He asked pulling his tie off and tossing it at her as he kicked off his shoes. "You want this sexy body?" He asked unbuttoning his shirt to show off his skinny body. "Is this getting you going?" He asked trying not to laugh as he swung his shirt over his head and wiggled his eyebrows.

At this point she was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe. "Honestly. I thought this would be hotter." She said between gasps.

"What? You don't do like this fire I'm throwing your way?" He asked pulling his belt out of his pants with a flourish.

"I'm actually less attracted to you now then I was a minute ago." She said holding her side giggling.

"You're just trying to hide your lust behind the laughs because you know I make you hot." He said letting his pants fall leaving him in his red silk boxers and his black socks.

"Just, please stop. I might divorce you if you keep this up." She said rolling over on the bed.

"Oh come on! You're so turned on right now you're panting." He said humping the air to an off beat tune in his head.

"Just get in bed. I'm as dry as a desert right now." She said pulling him into bed.

"You just can't handle the Chuck!" He said confidently as he pulled off his black socks by the toes like a burlesque dancer.

"I think the Chuck handled me. It's like you dumped a bag of ice down my pants." She said.

"Well if you such an expert then you try it. You have one of your least sexy outfits on. Yoga paints, baggy ones at that, and a tank top. Lets see you rock my world. Go for it." He said laughing and feeling about a thousand times better than he did twenty minutes ago.

"Is that a challenge?" She asked hopping out of bed.

"That's right. I'm throwing down the gauntlet." He said sitting up.

"You asked for it." She said before walking over to her bag and pulling out her small workout iPod.

"Hey no fair! I didn't get music." Chuck said smiling.

"Shut up, you're really going to like this. You know that yoga class I go to with Ellie once a week?" She asked looking for the song she wanted.

"You mean the one you supposedly go to but yet you come back drunk. So, yeah, your weekly trips to a bar. What about it?" He asked.

"Well you're half right, it's not yoga, it's stripaerobics." She said hitting play. A sexy slow R&B beat came on and Chuck knew he was going to love every second of this.

Sarah walked over to the light switch and dimmed the lights until they were just a soft glow. "What is this song?" He asked liking the beat.

"The Weeknd, Wicked Games. Now shut up I'm trying to work here." She said. Pacing to the beat and getting the feel before she started swaying in a very hypnotic way that had Chuck breathing funny. She turned around and played with her shirt, lifting it and dropping it to give him just a hint of her back. On the chorus she pulled her shirt off and tossed it at him leaving her in a sexy black bra. Turning around he looked at her chest encased in the black silk as she rocked her hips. Spinning around she played with her yoga pants. She got them half way over her hips before she bent over and slowly pulled them down showing off her black thong and her perfect ass. Chuck almost choked on his own spit at this move. Smiling at his irregular breathing she kicked her pants off and moved closer to him "You liking this?" She asked in a sexy whisper.

"So much." He groaned out.

"This is the fun part. The part I've only practiced at home." She said turning her back to him and grinded her hips to the song. She reached behind her back and unhooked her bra and teased the straps down her shoulders. Turning around slowly she let the bra fall and saw him shiver. "Am I making it hard for you Chuck?" She asked running her hands over her chest.

"You always make it hard." He said softly, as though speaking to loudly might break the spell.

"Good." She said turn away from him and sitting in his lap. Taking his hands she placed them on her rib cage and slowly drug them over her abs to her breasts. "You like my tits?" She asked softly as he played with her nipples.

"So much." He muttered as he pinched and twisted her hard nipples making her moan.

She brought his right hand to her mouth and sucked his finger. When she felt him shudder and grunt she swirled her tongue around his finger and sucked as she pulled it out causing him to make a choked sob in the back of his throat. She took his wet finger and ran it down her body until it was resting on her panty clad sex. "Feel how hot I am? Feel how wet? You do that to me. You make me so fucking hot Chuck. I want you to rip this panties off and fuck as hard as you can. I want to feel you use me. I want to feel dirty." She whispered and Chuck couldn't take it anymore in a mad rush she found herself on her back with Chuck deep inside of her. "Yes! Now Fuck me!" She cried as he pumped into her with fast deep strokes. The sounds of their bodies slapping drowned out the sound of the song ending. Beyonce's Naughty girl came on and Sarah froze. "Hold up Chuck. I have to go changes the song!" She panted out trying to get up.

"Leave it!" He grunted as he rolled her over and drove into her harder from behind. "You're my naughty Girl. Now I'm going to fuck you like a naughty girl."

"You're going to regret it later." She cried out in a gasp as Chuck found a good rhythm that sent her over the edge. As she was climaxing Chuck came too falling to the bed holding her to his chest panting.

"Oh God that was hot." He grown rubbing her belly as they came down from the high.

"Tell me about it, we definitely need to do this again." She said still twitching and clenching from her climax.

"Sarah why did you want to change the song?" Chuck asked holding her and rubbing his hands all over her body.

"If I tell you now you'll want to die. It's better you not know and stay happy." She said rolling over and kissing him as she stood up on shaky legs. She walked over to the stereo and killed the power.

"Oh God!" Chuck said looking green. "Oh God! Naughty Girl is Ellie's song isn't it?" He asked.

"It's a very popular song in the class, it's a lot of the girl's pick." Sarah said dropping into the bed on top of him.

"Including my sister." He said feeling a shudder of revulsion.

"I told you to let me change the song. If it's any consolation she's danced to Wicked Game for Devon." She said smiling at his unease.

"No, and now I can never hear that song again." Chuck said rolling them over to hold her to his chest.

"Well aside for the song choice, did you like that?" She asked smiling.

"I loved every second of it. It was the hottest thing ever in my whole life. Not even the night Not-Richard picked up Sarah the sales rep. at a bar was this wild." Chuck said petting her body the way she liked it.

"Yeah this was hot, you were like a man possessed. I don't think I've ever been fucked that hard in my life. I loved every second of it." She said shivering at the memory of him driving into her sex with such power and dominance. Her pussy was still tingling.

"Now I think we need to take a nice hot shower and relax, maybe we'll order some room service and give each other those mesasags we were talking about earlier. My abs are burning right now." Chuck said.

"Your abs! every time you make me cum like that I feel like I did PT in boot camp again." She said laughing as she stood up, "now come and wash my back." She said.

"Get the shower hot, and I'll make a call down to room service and order up something good." He said grabbing the book next to the phone. "Do you want something heavy or light?" He asked sitting up next to the phone.

"Light, I plan on going at it a few more times before we pass out tonight." Sarah said before walking into the bathroom.

"Right." Chuck said looking over the menu. "Here we go, this sounds perfect." He said calling down. "Hello, yes this is Carmichael, Suite 345, I'd like your romantic sampler and take your time sending it up… A hour should be plenty of time." Chuck said hanging up and joining his wife in the huge shower.

Forty-five minutes later Chuck was drying Sarah's body with a big fluffy towel when someone knocked at the door. "That's probable room service." Chuck said grabbing a bathrobe and pulling it on. When he opened the door he saw his parents standing in the hall looking hesitant. "Mom, dad, um what's, um. How's everything going?" Chuck asked unsure of what to say or do.

"We just came to talk to you about…" Mary started but was interrupted by Sarah coming to see what was taking so long.

"Chuck what's… Hey guys. Sorry for the robes but we just got out of the shower." Sarah said holding Chuck's arm.

"That's okay. We were young once." Mary said smiling. "Anyways, we came up to talk about… things." Mary said looking unsure again.

"That's fine but I think tomorrow over breakfast would be better. We have kind of a busy night ahead of us and I don't want Chuck distracted." Sarah said looking at Mary.

Mary looked back and understood what she was trying to say without saying. "That sounds good. It gives us a chance to sleep on things." Mary said smiling. "Well, we'll see you in the morning." Mary said dragging Steven as she turned around to leave.

As she took a step she felt arms go around her from behind. "Look guy's, I love you, and I'm happy you guys are here. I just need some time to process it all. I'm sure Ellie is the same. Let's all relax and see if we can't make this family whole again. It's going to take time and now I know this, over the last two days, it was too much too fast. I just need time to adjust to you guys. I will eventually, but I just need some space and time and I'll get there. Just know that I love you and I will get there." Chuck said holding the two of them.

"Okay, Chuck. Okay." Mary said turning around to hold him. "I love you so much, but I understand. We both do. Now I see the room service guy coming. We'll leave you two kids alone for the night." Mary said kissing Chuck on the cheek and pulling Steven away down the hall. After years of leading him around she found it easier to just pull him along.

Chuck tipped the room service guy and pushed the cart in with Sarah. "I feel better about everything you know?" He said lifting the lid off the plates full of small finger foods and sweets.

"Good. I don't have what you can call a reliable parent, and I know your situation is far from normal but it's a hell of a lot more stable now then my relationship with my dad is." Sarah said picking up a big chocolate covered strawberry.

"I'll work it all out, like I said I just need time. Time to get used to them, for them to get used to me, for me to start being comfortable around them. Yesterday and today was too much. I need the slow walk into the cold pool to get acclimated. The jumping in to the deep end approach did not work." Chuck said opening the bottle of sparkling pink wine.

"I'll talk to Ellie in the morning, we are going to run on the beach." Sarah said.

"Good I want to know what she thinks about all this. I kind of sprang it on her too. Now I feel bad." Chuck said taking a drink from his flute.

"I wouldn't, she's taking things better than you are. Your sister is a strong person, she raised you after all. Showed you how to act. Taught you to be the man I love. Your sister is someone I admire greatly. Now feed me sweets as you give me a rub down." Sarah said dropping her robe and laying out on the bed.

"Yes My Queen." Chuck said smiling as he took the tray with strawberries to the bed and started on her shoulders and neck.

For the rest of the night they shared sweets, love, and passion. Nothing rough or fast, everything nice and gentle and full of love. Sarah loved every minute of it and when she fell asleep in Chuck's arms she knew this was the reason she loved him. Not anything else but his ability to make her feel like a Queen, like a goddess. As he held her she feel asleep with a big smile on her face and Chuck's arm holding her tummy.

The room phone rang and Chuck blindly reached around for in the dark room. "Yeah Carmichael." Chuck said.

"Oh, I have the wrong room, I'm sorry." Ellie said.

"Wait. It's me Chuck. Carmichael is my name now. It's a security thing. What's going on?" Chuck asked sitting up.

"I called for Sarah, she said she wanted to join me on my morning run." Ellie said.

"Right I remember her saying something like that." Chuck said.

Sarah rolled over looking cute with her hair all tussled and sticking up. "Is that Ellie? Tell her to give me about ten minutes." She said rolling out of bed.

"Did you hear that?" Chuck asked smiling.

"I did, ten minutes. Chuck, I heard about what happened in the bar from Devon last night and I want to say thank you. I've been feeling weird about the whole situation and I didn't know how to say anything. I, I didn't want to say anything because I feared they would leave again." She said.

"Well I didn't. There's nowhere for them to go. They have only a cursory knowledge of new tech. They have no money, no jobs, and nowhere to live. They're stuck with us this time. So say what you have to, they're expecting it. I think Mom talked to dad about it. Ellie, the fact is we can't go from only having us, to having parents this late in the game without some bumps in the road. We don't need parents at this age. But we do need them." Chuck said tiredly.

"I can understand that, and I think mom is trying to go that way with this. We talked like friends and not mother and daughter, and that's helped things." Ellie said thoughtfully.

"We'll work it out. It can't be harder than with I just did to get them out." Chuck said laughing.

"You still on the phone?" Sarah asked as she came out of the bathroom. "Tell her I'll meet her out front." She said pulling on her shoes.

"She said she'll meet you out front. Maybe later we'll all get breakfast and talk." Chuck said.

"Sounds good." Ellie said hanging up.

Chuck looked at his wife in her shorts and sports bra. "Sexy." He said grabbing her around the waist.

"I'm un-showered, and I'm wearing workout clothes. There is nothing sexy about me right now." She said bending down and kissing him.

"You're always sexy to me." He said kissing her exposed belly.

"That's good, when I'm old and gray you'll still find me sexy." She said playing with his hair.

"Till the day I die." He said smiling.

"Damn Chuck, you say things like that and I end up wanting to stay and go back to bed." She said holding his face.

"Then get back in bed." He said kissing her abs.

"You're sister is waiting." She said biting her lip.

"Let her wait." He said slipping his hands around her waist to her ass.

"I can't, kiss me and let me go." She said leaning down. Chuck kissed her and leaned back making her fall on top of him with a start. "Smooth, but I'm still going. See you in an hour. Maybe I'll let you wash my back." She said before walking out the door. She ran to the front lobby and saw Ellie stretching. "Hey Ellie, sorry I'm late, Chuck was extra handsy." She said.

"Don't feel too bad, I just got out here myself. I think it's in the air." She said laughing.

"I showed off my strip class skills last night." Sarah said.

"Did you?" Ellie asked smiling. "Are you still sore?"

"Yes, we've never went at it like that before." Sarah said blushing.

"Devon pulled a muscle in his thigh the night I showed off my little dance." Ellie said.

"Wow. We didn't hurt ourselves or anything but we did have a hell of a good time." Sarah said laughing.

"I'm telling you it's this place. We've been here for a month and we've had twice the amount of sex we've had since we've been together in this one month. I've found this deck of cards that will change your life." Ellie said as they ran up the beach.

"That sounds interesting, but I wanted to talk to you about some… things. First off I wanted to get your honest opinion about me now that you know the truth, and it's just us two." Sarah asked not looking at her.

"What, oh the spy thing? I've gotten over that, the lying to me was a tougher thing, but I got over that too. Look, before all this we were starting to really connect right? We started talking more, and you took the class with me. I knew you were holding out on me. I just figured it had to do with something personal. Like a bad ex-boyfriend, or you were disowned by rich parents, or something like that. I figured you'd get hammered one day and tell me. That really didn't matter to me. All that mattered to me was that you loved Chuck, and when you talk about him I can see it in your eyes. So I figured why push it? You're going to be around for a long time, we can talk about it later." Ellie said smiling.

"Good, I think I love talking to you as much as I love Chuck. You're like the best big sister ever." Sarah said stopping and pulling Ellie into a hug. "I was really worried you would hate me." She said softly.

"I could never hate you." Ellie said smiling. "Now come on, we have about a mile more to go before we turn back." Ellie said as they pushed on.

"Wow, you really got in great shape." Sarah said watching her sister-in-law push just as hard as she could.

"All I've done is eat healthy, workout, lay in the sun, and have sex with Devon. This place is paradise." Ellie said smiling.

"I'm going to follow your lead for the next few weeks. That sounds great. A huge change from work." Sarah said.

"How is everything? I know you guys can't tell us everything but, how did everything go?" Ellie asked.

"Surprisingly good. Chuck has a real head for planning, and a lucky streak a mile wide. Every part of his plan work as good, or better than he thought it would. The only part of the plan that didn't work was us fighting all the time." Sarah said shaking her head.

"Fighting? What happened?" Ellie asked.

"Well, how can I explain this? When an agent goes under for a long stretch they lose themselves to the part they play. For Chuck to walk the walk and talk the talk he had to become his cover. He had to be an A class spy that turned on his government. He had to be cocky, and cool, and charming. He had to be James Bond. The thing is we're not used to working like that. I'm usually the eye candy, Chuck is the information and IT guy and Casey is the heavy hitter. For the first time since we started, I had to sit on the side lines and watch Chuck play the eye candy. Worse yet he played it for four weeks straight. It caused a lot of feelings in me I never felt before. I mean you're a woman with a hot boyfriend, you know what it's like to get jealous." Sarah said as they reached a stone wall marking the edge of the resort's private beach.

"It sucks. Women hit on Devon all the time." Ellie said sitting on the low wall.

"Well imagine a situation where beautiful women were hitting on Devon and Devon had to play along." Sarah said sitting next to her. "On top of that, Chuck starts collecting these beautiful, but broken women. You know how Chuck is, they start crying and he holds them. They need comfort and he's there to give it to them." She said sighing.

"Did Chuck cheat on you?" Ellie asked shocked.

"Not really. He never had sex with them, but with a few of them he did, things. Chuck is a master of playing women now. Getting them excited, and getting them off without really doing anything. It's something agents learn." Sarah said blushing.

"You can do it?" Ellie asked.

"I can. It's a something they teach you as an agent. What I forgot was how addicting it is. The power rush you get off it… when I first learned how to do it I went on a tear. Think back to when you first figured out you could pull any boy. When you found out you could walk up to any man, bat your eyes and give him a smile, and you knew he would do anything for you. Remember how that felt?" Sarah asked smirking.

"Junior year of High School. I got these bad boys and ended up causing some fights between boys." Ellie said pointing at her chest.

"I bet you did, I've seen pictures of you and Chuck growing up. You were always a looker. Now imagine you're an ugly duckling that never turned a head in your life. Imagine learning how to play someone for the first time, but unlike when you were young you have the power to make that person climax without even touching them too much. With just your words and soft kisses. That's what I learned and for the next three months I fucked every guy I thought would be a challenge. I didn't even do it for the sex. I did it for the power trip. It's a heady feeling. I showed Chuck how to do that, and then sent him into the world. Worse yet I sent him on a mission undercover with those skills. I'm surprised he didn't fuck all of the women he recruited." Sarah said trying to get it all off her chest.

"Wow. Could you teach me?" Ellie asked looking flushed.

"No, I'm not teaching anyone, anything, ever again. I've learned my lesson." Sarah said shaking her head.

"I can see why you two fought though, just thinking of Devon flirting with another woman… I'm not really the jealous type, and I know Devon would never do anything, but I would kill any woman cozying up to my Devon." Ellie said coldly.

"Whoa, down Kitty. Put the claws away." Sarah said laughing.

"I'm just saying. At least you never had to deal with these women." Ellie said.

"Oh no, that's the fun part. They all work for Chuck now." Sarah said.

"You're kidding?" Ellie said shocked.

"Nope. They call themselves his Angels and they are super dedicated to him. All of them are emotionally damaged, so he takes care of them like Chuck would, but the whole thing really made me crazy." Sarah said rolling her eyes.

"I can see why! Chuck built a harem!" Ellie said looking like she wanted to kill her little brother.

"It's not his fault, it's Melissa's, but I get to that. The reason I'm not killing them all including your brother, came from something he said to me. One time we were fighting over the phone and I asked him how he would feel if I slept with men, and he said if they were team members like Casey, and they were hurt and needed comfort then he wouldn't mind. He went on to say it would require me to be comforting in the first place, so we ended up having a big fight, but the idea still stuck with me. Chuck takes care of people, and when he met these women they needed comfort and he gave it to them. I think I'm okay with it. I think I'd be okay with him cuddling one of his Angels if they were having a really bad day. I'd even be willing to let him sleep with them if the need was real." She said deep in thought.

"What? Are you crazy? How can you let Chuck sleep with these women?" Ellie asked shocked.

"Because I know that no matter what they ask for Chuck will never have sex with them. I know because Melissa told me Jordan, she's this NSA Legend that was forced to have sex with Roark, every night, or they would kill her son." Sarah said, but stopped when Ellie interrupted her.

"Say again? She was forced to sleep with the same guy that kidnapped my parents?" She asked.

"Yes, and she hated every minute of it. She had Chuck in bed and begged for sex. Pleaded for it. Begged him the make love to her. And she's a stunning woman. If I look half as good as her in twenty years I'll be shocked. She begged him and he didn't have sex with her. So if he can say no in that situation then I'm going to trust him." Sarah said.

"I'm still stuck on the part about forced sex with an evil shit. I think you better tell me the whole thing. I know you can't tell me state secrets or mission details but I think you better tell me everything about these women." Ellie said.

"Well we have to start with the ring leader, and head Angel Melissa…" Sarah said feeling a weight lift off her chest as she talked. For the last three weeks she kept bottling up her feelings and now she had someone to talk to. "And now she's totally in love with Scott, Jordan's son." Sarah said as they walked back to the resort.

"Wow. I can't believe those women went through such stuff, I'd have hugged and cuddled them too. Are all agents treated that badly? Were you treated like that?" Ellie aside holding Sarah tighter to her side.

"Not really. Women fall into three categories: Ice Queens, Sluts, and ditzy Bimbos." Sarah said.

"That's what the CIA calls its female agents?" Ellie asked shocked.

"No, but it's short hand for the jobs we do, and the way we are treated. I'm an Ice Queen. I don't sleep with marks, I don't mind killing too much if they're scum of the earth, and can get the job done no matter what. Sluts, like my best friend and sister in everything but blood, Carina, they don't mind sex, in fact they kind of like it. They can kill, but they're wild and unreliable. Then you have Ditzy Bimbos. Like Melissa and Kate. They're only kept around because you can't trust call girls to keep secrets. They get used as hookers to entertain assets, like Chuck was when he first started out. Generally we don't like each other. Ice Queens, look down on the other two groups and they resent us for not having to be whores. Until this mission I never really had to deal with other female agents." Sarah said.

"I'm starting to get a better picture of what happened over the last month." Ellie said smiling sadly. "Chuck goes under as a cool tough guy expecting to match wits with someone like you, and instead he meets Melissa. From the way you described her she sounds like the human equivalent of a wounded puppy."

"Kitten, Chuck said she acts like she's part feline. She's a lap sitter. You know the type." Sarah said.

"Even worse. I raised Chuck to be a tactile person. Hugs, cuddling, touches on the shoulder, playing with his hair. This girl, if she was a real danger, would have owned Chuck in a matter of days. I'm surprised she backed off. She could take Chuck from you, you know that right? No matter how much you two love each other she would have the upper hand because she can keep up the touching game. You should really watch out for her." Ellie said.

"I would but she honestly loves Chuck so much she would never do anything to break us up. In fact she fought with me to make me get back with Chuck. To patch things up. You really should meet her. She's a nice girl, she's just hurt and clingy. Also she loves adding to Chuck's stable of women." Sarah said.

"I'll believe you for now, but I'm telling you to watch her." Ellie said looking serious. "One good fight, and a shoulder to cry on becomes the one night stand that breaks a relationship. I've seen it happen. A friend of mine back in med school had a boyfriend with a hot female friend. They fought over something small and the next day he moved in with the hot friend." Ellie said.

"Oh, I know she's waiting for the break up to take him, she told me as much." Sarah said laughing.

"How can you find this funny? Your rival is Chuck's new friend." Ellie asked looking at her like she was crazy.

"Because Chuck, loves me, and he can control her. He says no, and she agrees. I think you'll like her. I know I do and I've tried really hard not to. Deep down she's a good person, all of them are. I've tried my hardest to not like them, to discredit them, to get them off the team and away from my husband, but they are all good. They're good agents, and they're extremely loyal to Chuck. A part of me, not a big part, but a part is glad Chuck has them. Our job, the life we lead as spies is very dangerous. I'm not going to lie to you Ellie, until I met Chuck two years ago I knew I would die in some third world country one day. Alone, on some mission I was too old to take but took anyways because the job is all I had, and I thought I was invincible. But having these women on the team, even Morgan and the three agents we picked up along the way makes the team strong, and the stronger the team is, the less likely we'll end up dead." She said.

"If you say so, but I hold the right to hate this Melissa." Ellie said as the walked in to the resort lobby.

"I'd love to see you try. Now I'm going to let Chuck wash my back, maybe my front too. I'll see you in a bit for breakfast." Sarah said laughing.

"It's this place I'm telling you." Ellie said laughing as they split up to head off to their rooms.

She found Chuck sitting at the table cleaning his gun. "Walker." He said with a nod.

"Mad Dog. Chuck letting you out?" She asked smiling.

"Letting me take over for a while to see if we have any problems switching back. The kid is weak-willed, and I'm too stubborn for my own good." Chuck grunted as he worked.

"Well you have five minutes to figure it out if you want to join me in the shower." She said kicking off her shoes. Chuck looked up as she pulled her sports bra over her head with a sexy smile. "You coming?" She asked.

"Not yet, but soon." Chuck said standing up and walking over to her. He picked her up and kissed her softly as he walked then into the bathroom and under the shower head. He turned the handle and Sarah shrieked as Cold water hit her back.

"That was not funny." She said as she tossed her wet shorts out of the shower stall.

"Let me make it up to you." He said tossing his boxers and grabbing the body wash.

"And how are you going to do that?" She asked.

"By washing you my queen." He said squeezing some soap onto her body and rubbing it in with his hands.

She shivered. "Good, I like when you put in a good effort for your queen." She sighed as Chuck massaged her whole body with his firm fingers.

They came stumbling down to the big dining room still wet from the shower and hour later. "I see you took your time in the shower." Ellie said smiling.

"Chuck had to make sure it was thoroughly scrubbed." She said blushing.

"I live to serve." Chuck said softly in her ear making her shiver.

"I like seeing you guys acting young and in love." Mary said reaching out to touch Sarah and Chuck's hands.

"So what's good here?" Chuck asked.

"We already ordered for you. It's the same thing we get all the time. Goat cheese omelet with fresh fruit and whole wheat toast." Ellie said.

"That sounds disgusting." Chuck said making a face.

"I knew you would say that so I ordered you steak and eggs with hash browns." Ellie said. "Because you eat like a trash can."

"No, I eat like a man. Men eat Meat, and Unborn Meat and Potatoes. When it comes I'm going to cover the whole thing in hot sauce and salt. I'm also going to order a side of bacon. How about you two men, would you like to share a platter full of the meat from the goods." Chuck said smiling as he tucked his napkin in his t-shirt.

"I'll bum a few strips if you don't mind." Steven said smiling at his son.

"Alright, now were talking. What are we doing after this?" Chuck asked.

"Well it's Tuesday, I go rock climbing and Ellie hikes the trail. We meet at the top for lunch. You guys going to join me?" Devon asked as the food arrived.

"I'm game, I have the skills and I need to start building some muscle mass." Chuck said

"Well, I'm too old to climb a mountain, I'll talk the hike with Eleanor." Steven said.

"My arm is still hurting, no rock climbing for me for a few days." Sarah said.

"I used to be able to do it, is it a big climb?" Mary asked.

"Not really it's a sixty foot cliff face with good hand holds and a rope system." Devon said.

"Then I'll tag along with you boys if you don't mind?" Mary said smiling. "I want to see if I can still keep up with you kids."

"Alright mom. Do we need any gear?" Chuck asked.

"They sell climbing shoes in the pro shop." Ellie said. "They also sell some comfortable walking shoes dad. We'll get you a pair before we head out. There's a small burger and taco stand at the top."

"This sounds like fun." Chuck said smiling.

Two hours later. "This is not that much fun. Every part of my ass hurts." Chuck said looking up at Devon.

"I told you it was harder than it looked Bro. and this is the easier side. The cliff face thirty foot to your left is much harder, but if you build up some endurance you can make the climb by the time we leave.

"Sounds good." Chuck said mockingly but Devon took it at face value. He looked over to his left and Saw his mother climbing like an old pro. "How are you doing?" He asked as she made it to his level.

"Good, I'm surprised my old bones can still do this." Mary said reaching for a handhold above her.

"You're doing good Mrs. B!" Devon called down for his spot ten feet above them.

"Thanks Devon!" She said sharing a smile with Chuck. "This is great Fun! Come on Chucky, let's get to the top." Mary said.

"I'm coming!" Chuck said.

On the trail leading up to the summit the two women were leading Steven up. "You okay dad? You want us to stop?" Ellie asked looking back at her father who was huffing about twenty feet behind them.

"No, I'm fine." He said wheezing.

"Right, there's a bench up here around this bend in the trial. We can stop for a few minutes. I'm sure the boy and mom are going to take longer than us anyways." She said looping her arm through his as he walked up.

"I'm not in as good a shape as I once was." He said with an easy smile.

"Years of inactivity will do that to you." Ellie said with a slight edge to her voice that she regretted the second she said it.

"We've got to get you into a gym." Sarah said quickly, she saw Ellie's miss step and pick up the conversation. "This is a very active family after all. Chuck used to be the lazy one until he got his download, I think you should join him in the gym. He's going to start going in the mornings. It's a good bonding experience." She said as they got to the bench and Steven collapsed tiredly.

"Thanks Sarah, that's a good idea." Steven said and Sarah knew he meant more than the suggestion, he was also talking about the timing.

"This I have to see, two computer geeks walk into a gym." Ellie said laughing.

"I'll have you know, I ran track in high school. What Chuck and I lack in bulk we make up for in lanky running." Steven said laughing too. "Come on. Lets go, we don't want the climbers to beat us to the top!" Steven said getting up with a spring in his step.

"Lets go." Ellie said smiling as she took her father's arm and started walking up the hill at a good pace for the two of them.

Sarah smiled at the two walking and snapped a pic of the two with her phone. "Wait up you two, don't leave the injured girl behind!" She said jogging to reach them.

"Injured! You out ran me this morning!" Ellie said looping her other arm with Sarah. "Come on, you can walk with us."

"This is nice." Sarah said smiling as they made another turn in the trail and saw two people on horse back. "Oh that looks like fun! It's been years since I rode a horse. That was at night and through a Bolivian jungle to avoid Rebels." Sarah said watching the two young kids clop by.

"This is a horse trail too. They rent horses at the bottom of the hill. I've been wanting to try it since we got here but I'm afraid of taking the trip by myself, and Devon really like the climb so I never asked him." Ellie said.

"I'd be happy to ride with you. It's been about thirty years since I've been on a horse but it's got to be like riding a bike right?" Steven said smiling.

"When did you ride horses?" Ellie asked.

"When I was a lot younger, my aunt, and your great aunt Tessa owned a ranch in Oklahoma. I would spend summers there." Steven said as Ellie leaned into him as he talked. "I used to help drive the cattle out to the fields and drive them back at night. We used to sleep out in the field to and hunt coyotes trying to get to the cows at night." Steven said as they walked at a nice calm pace.

"That sounds really nice. I would love to do something like that." Ellie said.

Back on the cliff Chuck could see the top. Devon was a few foot from it and his mother, who was a lot more fit then she was letting on, was two foot away from him. "You okay Chuck?" She asked smiling at him.

"Yeah, but I'm starting to cramp up. How far away are we?" Chuck asked locking his carabiner and resting on the rope.

"Ten feet I think?" She said looking up. "Hey Devon! How close are we?" She asked looking up at him.

"You're about ten feet! Keep it coming, the top gets easier!" Devon called down the then as he got to the top and looked over at them.

"See Chuck, ten feet! Lets do this!" She said excitedly. "Ellie did a good job with him. What an ass."

"Mom!" Chuck said laughing.

"What? I'm old, not blind." She said winking.

Chuck took a drink from his water bottle and smiled at his mother's exuberance. "I have a friend that you would get along with really well. She's just as hyper, and just as excitable as you." Chuck said following his mother up.

"She sounds like fun. Chuck, I have to tell you something. I've spent the last twenty-five years underground worrying about kids I couldn't take care of and trying not to do anything to get Steven killed, or you and Ellie hurt. Now that I'm out I can finally breath. I feel a weight lift off my chest. I don't have to worry about my actions, or the things I say, or watching Steven. As bad as it sounds I feel free. I'm sad that I wasn't there to raise you, but I honestly think Ellie did a better job then I could have. I was an agent that fell in love and got knocked up. I had Ellie and she and went back to work. I knew nothing about raising kids. I was a trained killer. Your father raised her." Mary said as they made the trip up.

"I'm sure you would have been a great mother if you had the chance." Chuck said.

"I did a piss poor job on Ellie. By the time I had you I was thankful she was around. I was called back to work and again I was gone. By the time I wanted to try being a real mother I was taken. Five years later your father showed up in my cell, and I knew we had doomed your sister to having no childhood." Mary said sadly as she reached over and took Chuck's hand.

"Mom, I think you should say this to Ellie, I think she needs to hear it." Chuck said holding her hand.

"I've tried to talk to her but she keeps changing the subject. I think it's a mom tactic and she's using my lack of knowledge against me." Mary said laughing sadly.

"Then we'll corner her and get her to hear you out. I also think I'm going to lay off my father." He said and was startled when Devon touched his shoulder.

"You made it to the top Bro. and if you can get up and over quick enough then we can beat them. I can see them walking up the path." He said holding out his hand.

"Thanks Devon." Chuck said letting the bigger man drag him over the top. He turned around and held out his hand for his mother but she grabbed a hand hold at the top and pulled herself up with ease. "I see, you were sand bagging me." Chuck said smiling.

"I wanted to talk to you." She said pulling him up.

"I see none of you fell off the cliff." Sarah said as they walked up.

"No, and when you say none I know you mean me. You're not fooling anyone." Chuck said pouting. That set everyone off and the heavy mood of the last two days was gone.


	36. Chapter 36

Over the next five days the rest of the team and some family members came to the island. The first ones to arrive were Morgan, Alex, Anna, and Scott. They were dropped off at the resort by a cab and Chuck was waiting for them by the front door. "Welcome to paradise!" He said with a big smile.

"This place is primo Chuck!" Morgan said. Of the four he was the only one dressed for the resort wearing board shorts and a Magnum PI style Hawaiian shirt.

"I got you and Anna a suite, I figured you two kids wouldn't mind sharing." Chuck said handing Morgan a key card. "You two have the same set up." He said handing Scott the key card to their room. "How are you my Angel?" He asked Anna who still looked a little sore.

"I'm fine." She said hugging Chuck.

"Right. For the next week you are to sit on the beach and do nothing. That's an order. I'm sure Scott can keep you covered in sun screen and keep you're tropical drink full." Chuck said kissing her on the forehead. "Now get changed and come out back, it's just after lunch which means we get hammered until six and then have a good dinner." Chuck said as he headed through the lobby and out the back door.

The next day after that Carina, Kate, Bobby, and Danny showed up. Again they were met at the front door by Chuck, but this time Sarah was there too. "Hey guys, welcome to paradise." Chuck said and Kate hugged him. "Good morning Angel." He said smiling as Carina hugged Sarah. "You must be Bobby, I've heard a lot about you. Chuck Carmichael, Call me Chuck." He said shaking her hand.

"This is a really nice place." Carina said looking around.

"I'm glad you like it. I set you up in a single down the hall from us with an ocean view. Kate your next to her." He said handing out the two key cards. "As for you two, I have two single rooms in my right hand and a suite in my left. You make the choice." Chuck said holding out his two hands.

Bobby looked at Carina. "Don't look at me kid. I'm not your big sister. I'm your besty. I say go for it." Carina said smiling.

"As tempting as the offer is I think we'll take the two rooms for now." Bobby said blushing.

"Chuck leave the kids alone. Get changed you guys we're out back on the beach. Friday is Rock climbing and hiking at noon. Drinking on the beach until six." Sarah said looping her arm with Chuck's.

"Sound's like fun. I'll go put on a bikini." Carina said smiling.

"I hope it's not too reviling." Sarah said laughing.

The day after Melissa and Jenifer showed up with her parents and her cousin Tony. Chuck was waiting out front with Sarah and Melissa ran up to him and hugged him the second the car stopped. "Good Morning my favorite Angel." Chuck said laughing.

"Good morning Charlie! I've missed you so much!" She said turning around and hugging Sarah. "Hey Sarah! It's good to see you too, but you know, not as much as Chuck." She said with a big smile.

"Cute." Sarah said smiling.

"Guys, I'd like you two to meet my mom and dad. Sue and Robert Barnes. Mom and dad, meet Chuck, my boss, and his wife Sarah." Melissa said making the introductions. "Chuck this is the cousin I was talking about, Tony." She said dragging the bigger man front and center. "I wanted to add him to the team. This is his file." She said handing Chuck the files from her bag.

Chuck laughed at her antics and looked at the file. He flashed and smiled. "This looks good. Graduated Northwestern Illinois University with a good GPA in criminal justice. Passed out of Quantico with good scores, and your record looks good so far. How would you like a job doing dangerous covert missions for the government?" Chuck asked.

"Will I be working with Melissa?" Tony asked with an easy smile.

"Yes. As well as the rest of the team." Chuck said.

"If I get to work with Bunny then I'm in." Tony said hugging Melissa.

"Good, we'll finalize the paperwork later." Chuck said shaking his hand.

"Now, Melissa, I'd like you to meet my mother. She's just like you." Chuck said.

"She sounds like fun!" Melissa said excitedly following Chuck out to the beach.

Sarah laughed and looked at the rest of the people standing in the front entrance. "I guess we should follow them."

"Melissa." Jenifer said rolling her eyes.

"You get used to her after a while." Sarah said shaking her head.

The next day the rest of the group showed up. Jordan took one look at the beach through the lobby and hugged Chuck. "I needed this bad." She said as she took off her heels and suit jacket, and just walked out to the beach. She found her son laying out next to Anna and dropped down next to him.

Casey handed Chuck and black metal briefcase. "Secure Sat phone and lap top." He said before following Jordan.

"Right. Ron, Victoria, you two are in suite 14." He said handing Ron the key card. "See you guys in a week. And try to eat in between sex guys. I don't want you hurting yourselves." Chuck said smirking.

The two blushed bright red and Victoria nodded. "Good idea Chuck, we'll see you around.

"Hay Sam, you look tired." Chuck said hugging her.

"I am Chuck. Where's my sister?" She asked.

"Out on the beach with everyone else. I also put her in a separate room from Danny." Chuck said smiling.

"Good. I'm going to go change out of these clothes, I'll see you out there Chuck." She said walking into the hotel with her bag.

Chuck came out to the beach and saw the rest of the group laying in the sand or under umbrella chairs. "Everyone, aside from Major Snow is here." Chuck said as he sat next to Sarah.

"Now will you relax?" Sarah asked smiling at his mother hen act.

"Yes. I think relaxing is a great idea." Chuck said pulling off his shirt and laying back in his beach chair. He was asleep in minutes with a big smile on his face.

For the rest of the day they stayed on the beach and that night the team ate dinner together on one big table. Chuck stood at the head of the table as they all sat down. "I just wanted to say thank you. To all of you. About two weeks ago we all sat in Castle eating breakfast. For some of us, we looked around the table and didn't know if we would make it out the other side. We do a dangerous job, but as you saw a week ago, if we plan it right. If we work together, and if we stay strong as a team we can take down the biggest threat to this country since the cold war. Not only did we complete the mission but we did so without anyone knowing!" Chuck said and the team cheered. "Now I'm not going to say we got off free and clear. Some of us got shot, hell one of our sisters was blown up! But our little Anna made it out, and because she's carved out of stone she's back up to fighting form." Chuck said smiling.

"Ready to go when you are Chuck." She said smiling back at him.

"We also have some new faces sitting at the table. We welcome Bobby and Danny. They will work as our information team. We also have Tony Barns joining our ranks. Welcome to the team. I would also like to offer Ellie and Devon two positions on the team." Chuck said shocking the two.

"What? Chuck we're not spies." Ellie said.

"Neither was I a month ago, but the job I'm offering you is head of the Roark Industries Medical clinic. I want RI to look more like Google, right now we are to second best place to work, with a health center conveniently located in the building we can bridge the gap." Chuck said smiling.

"Chuck, we really don't want to run a clinic, we want to work as trauma doctors." Ellie said.

"And you will, who do you think we'll call when one of us is shot? The clinic is a cover for the trauma unit. You think I'm going to trust these guys to just any doctor? Hell no. You'll work with me on the emergency response team. I have ER training, we all do, It's part of the download list, but experience in an ER can't be gained through a download. We get shot at, it's part of the job. When someone put's bullets in us I want you two on stand by to take them out. This job also nets you clearance to mission information." Chuck said smirking.

"Damn it Chuck. You know I can't turn it down now." Ellie said looking pissed off and happy at the same time.

"Starting salary is 1.5 million dollars a year, company car, and living expenses." Chuck said.

"I'm in Bro." Devon said. "What?" He asked looking at Ellie. "Come on babe, it's the perfect job. Especially now with the baby…" He said before catching himself.

"Devon!" Ellie said. She looked around and saw the hopeful looks. "You're not supposed to say anything until the eight week, we only took the test yesterday." She said with a big smile.

"Ellie!" Sarah said rushing around the table to hug her. "This is great!"

Melissa and Mary were just a few steps behind her.

Chuck walked over the Devon. "You knocked my sister!" He said with an angry look on his face just long enough for Devon to look worried before be broke. "Bring it in Bro." He said hugging Devon.

"That's not funny Chuck!" He said.

"Well this celebration just got better! Champagne for everyone!" Chuck said and the waiters came in with glasses for everyone. "Here's to family." Chuck said.

"To team Chuck!" Melissa said "We might not be all sane, but at lest we have each other!" She said.

"You're Damn Right!" Sarah said smiling.

"Now lets Eat!" Chuck said. He sat at the head of the table and smiled as the team ate and talked. He looked at his wife sitting next to Ellie talking about baby things with Melissa and his mother. He didn't think he could be happier than right now.

A week later when he stood on the beach next to Morgan, and watched his beautiful wife walk through the small crowd on the beach in her white dress on Casey's arm he amended his assessment. This was the happiest he ever felt. Devon, having been ordained last year to marry his frat brother stood in for them. "Friends and family. We are gathered here today to witness the joining of these two Awesome people…" Chuck was sure Devon was eloquent, and everything, but Chuck tuned him out. He looked at Sarah as they stood there and thought about all the things that happened for them to get here. The Intersect download. That first meeting at the Buy More. The missions. The fake relationship. The real love. The hostage situation. The mental break. The big mission. The weeks undercover. The Green wedding. Finding out his parents were alive. Through all of it she was there. He didn't know what his life would be like without her, and he figured that's what finding the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with was all about.

"I do." She said smiling as a tear brimmed in her ice blue eyes.

"Are you sure? You can have anyone in the world and you're going to be stuck with me?" Chuck asked making everyone laugh.

"Yes, you big dummy." She said smiling.

"Do you Chuck, take Sarah to be you lawfully wedded wife?" Devon asked.

"You're damn right I do! Have you seen her? I know when I'm marrying up." Chuck said holding her hand.

"You're telling me." Devon said winking at Ellie. "With the power vested in me by I now pronounce you husband and wife. Now kiss your Awesome wife!" Devon said.

Chuck pulled her close and kissed her with everything he had. When he pulled back they both had goofy grins on their faces. As they walked back up the beach Chuck kissed her again. "So, Mrs. Carmichael, what's next?" Chuck asked smiling.

"Next, where going to eat, drink and dance. Then you're going to take me back to the room and we're not coming out for a week. You're going to spend that time showing me how much you love me." She said.

"Sounds good to me." Chuck said blissfully happy.

TEN YEARS LATER….

Chuck sat at the bar of the Four Seasons waiting for his contact. He was dressed in his black Armani two button suit and he had gray streaks in his hair and beard. His job tonight was to get her up to his room and pump her for information and then take the job she wanted him to do. His cover was an international art thief. Her name was Natasha Gorbinski. She was a hitter in the Russian Mob stationed in New York. Her and her two sisters ran everything from contract killings to grand thefts and girls. Natasha was the oldest and she was the brains when it came to the sisters. Alex set a drink in front of him and he looked at the napkin. Natasha was just walking in to the hotel now, and she had two guards. Chuck wiped the condensation off his glass, smearing the ink and left the napkin on the bar as he took a seat in the back corner booth. Just as he took his seat she walked in with two huge hulking Russians. She stood about 5'9" and her black high heels added to her height putting her over the six foot mark. She was wearing a black designer suit that screamed power and money. Her long copper red hair was pulled up into a stylish bun in the back of her head and her designer black framed glasses suggested intelligence without her even having to speak. She looked around the room and spotted him. As they walked over her two big shadows pulled him out of his seat and one of them patted him down while the other one blocked them so no one saw him being accosted. "Really? Is this how you treat old friends Natasha?" Chuck asked in a strong British accent.

"Da, now sit." She said in a thick Russian accent as she slipped into her seat at the table.

"You look good Natasha." He said smiling a charming smile.

"I'm not sleeping with you Nigel. Not again." She said looking coldly at him.

"Why so cold Natasha? Don't you love me anymore?" He asked touching her hand.

"I don't, in fact, if my boss wasn't so fixated on the egg I wouldn't even be talking to you right now." She said blushing at his touch.

"I have a room. I thought we could talk up there?" He said with a predatory glint in his eyes.

"You're good, but, no." She said flushed.

"Come on Tasha, I've missed you so much. I have champagne and strawberries." He said lifting her hand to his lips. He brushed a kiss across her knuckles and she shivered.

"If I go upstairs, will you use your mouth on me?" She asked softly biting her bottom lip.

"I've been dreaming about your taste for the last week. I've been hungry for you since you called. Come on Tasha. Let me worship you." He whispered sending shivers all over her body.

"Fine, pleasure first, and then business." She said standing up. Her and her two shadows followed him up to his room.

Chuck opened the room and her Shadows checked the room over before coming back out. "The room is clear Boss." One of the big guys said in Russian.

"One of you stay by the door, the other go stand by the elevator." She said before following Chuck into the room. As soon as the door closed Chuck was on her. He kissed her hard as he pushed her jacket over her shoulders and attacked the flesh of her neck with his tongue. "Oh Nigel." She purred as he pushed her onto the bed. Her pulled her pants off, dropped to his knees, and attacked her wet sex with his mouth. "OH NIGEL!" She screamed as Chuck brought her off over and over again. "I Can't take it any more! Fuck me Hard you dirty British bastard!" She screamed as Chuck tore off his suit and drove into her center with hard and rough strokes. "That's what I've been missing!" She screamed as Chuck fucked her as hard as he could driving into her over and over again until they both had an earth shattering orgasm.

Chuck rolled off her and pulled her on to his chest. "I've missed you Sarah." He said softly.

"You think this is fun for me? I swear this is the last time I take a mission like this again. How is little Marry." She asked clutching him tightly as a tear slid down her cheek.

"She asks about her mommy everyday." Chuck said wiping her tears away with the pad of his thumb. "She's not the only one that misses you." Chuck said kissing her.

"I'm serous Chuck, this is it. These past four months have been killing me." She said in a choked sob.

"Shhh, honey, I got you. I love you, Marry loves you. We miss you, but no one could have pulled off what you did in such a short time. How are Carina and Melissa?" Chuck asked rubbing small circles on her back.

"Good. They both love the work, you know them. Carina now controls all the prostitution for the Romanov's, and Melissa is working on gaining access to the clubs. In a few months we should be running the family and have all the evidence to find out how they are shipping weapons to the Ukraine." She said sighing tiredly.

"Good, then you guys can come home." Chuck said kissing her softly.

"Did you talk to the art museum?" She asked.

"I did, and they are displaying the copy. It's a perfect match, and unless you're one of three art experts in the world then you would never know it's a fake." Chuck said.

"Good. And you're going to 'Steal it' tomorrow?" She asked.

"Yes. We have the tape we are going to leak to the press of me dressed in all black beating up the guards. We even have two night shift guards that are going to spend a few nights in the hospital. You know, hero stuff." Chuck said.

"I've missed your evil plotting and planning so much." She said kissing him.

"I've missed you all together." Chuck said kissing her neck.

"Shut up and make love to me." She said rolling them over. As Chuck loved her softly and fully she cried. When they both finished Chuck kissed her tears. "I swear this is the last time." She said crying.

"Sarah. Sarah look at me." He said holding her face. "I knew I was marrying a spy, just like you knew you were marrying a spy. I've been on two missions since you've been under. Our daughter is six. She has no concept of how long you've been gone. She's happy to play with Ellie's girls. My mother and father take all three of them out everyday. You do not need to be thinking about us right now. You do not need to be taking on all this stress. You have a job to do. If you keep feeling all this guilt and you get distracted then you'll end up dead and then what am I going to tell our daughter?" Chuck asked holding her.

"I know, it's just, I miss her so much. I miss you so much! I miss our apparent. I miss our bed. I don't think I can do this again. I don't know if I can pack my bags, pull on a new personality and go play a bad guy with you two at home. I can't take look in our daughters eyes and tell her good-bye not knowing if I'll come back home to her." She said shaking her head.

"Then no more undercover work! We'll go back to missions as a couple. No one plays the evil rich couple like we do. Now kiss me one more time as Sarah my wife and then go back to being who you need to be." Chuck said getting out of bed. He helped her up and he took her in his arms. The kiss was soft and sad and Chuck knew she was hanging on by a thread. "Now be Natasha." Chuck said softly.

"I don't want to." She said looking sadly at him.

"You will be her if you love me. If you love me and you love our daughter then you will put on those clothes and be the woman you have to be to get the job done and come home to us." Chuck said in a voice devoid of emotion.

"Chuck." She said with her eyes closed.

"No, Nigel. Now get dressed Natasha. We're done fucking and you need to go." He said feeling sick inside, but he knew she needed to get back into character if she was going to make it out the other side.

"No." She said.

"Yes, you cold Russian bitch. Get your shit and go. I'll call you tomorrow. And don't forget to take your two thugs with you." Chuck said in a British accent.

"But." She said.

"No. you need to get your shit together right now or you'll end up fucking dead by morning. Now, get. Your. Shit." He said coldly.

Sarah looked shocked for a second before her eyes turned cold. "Da, you will have the egg, or I will have your balls." She said coldly as she got dressed. As she pulled on her jacket she turned and Kissed Chuck softly. "Tell Mary… tell her mommy loves her very much." She said tearing up again.

"I will." Chuck said softly. "Now who are you?" He asked coldly.

"Natasha Gorbinski." She said softly.

"Who?" He asked.

"Natasha Gorbinski." She said rolling her shoulders back and pulling her red hair back into a messy bun.

"Who the fuck are you?" He asked with a British accent.

"Natasha Gorbinski, and if you ask one more time I'll cut out your tongue, you don't need to speak to steal things for me." She said in a cold Russian accent.

"No, I don't but I need it you make you cum like there's no tomorrow Luv." He said with a cocky smile.

"Two Days." She said opening the door. "If I don't have the egg by then you'll wish you were never born Smith. Two Days." She said walking away without looking back.

Chuck looked at the big Russian. "What?" Chuck asked standing by the door naked. "You want some?" He asked shaking his dick at the Russian.

"What is wrong with you?" The big Russian asked looking at Chuck like he was crazy.

"I think with my Banger and Mash too much mate." He said before shutting the door.

Chuck got dressed and walked out to the Dodge Charger he was using for this mission. He pulled out of the garage and drove around for a few minutes to make sure he wasn't being followed. When he was sure he had no tails he drove to a small café a few blocks from Roark Tower. Inside he saw the new girl they just got from the NSA. Cristina Chambers. "Hey Christy, is Alex and Jordan back yet?" He asked taking the coffee and caramel milkshake she put on the counter for him.

"Yes, they just went down before you came in. It's how I knew to have the shake ready." She said smiling softly at him.

"Thanks Christy. You're doing a really good job." He said as he went through the kitchen, through a door in the pantry and down the flight of stairs into the new Castle. Now that none of them worked at the Buy More they couldn't keep the old Castle running without getting spotted by Buy More staff. It was a pain in the ass the build a new castle but it was worth it to keep the idiots from seeing them. Sitting at the conference table looking about as tired as he was where Jordan and Alex. "Hey ladies. How did we do tonight?" He asked taking a seat at the table.

"Good. I was able to retrieve the package Sarah dropped, and your cover is strong. One of the big Russians called his boss in the crime family and cracked jokes about the ice queen falling for the Brit's charms." Jordan said.

"That's really good. I'm assuming you looked over the file she dropped off?" Chuck asked.

"I did a once over and it's all banking connections and a list of names to look in to." Alex said.

"Then we can do it tomorrow. It's midnight and we've all been up since six this morning. You two have been prepping for the meeting all day. Let's pack it in for the night and come back here around noon and go over it. Good work tonight." He said hugging then both before turning to leave.

"Chuck, the hair dye." Jordan said.

"Crap. Can you help me wash it out?" He asked taking his jacket off.

"Sure, it'll only take a minute." Jordan said waving Alex out.

Chuck walked down the hall and sat in the barber shop sink chair. "Thanks for working so hard to keep me organized. I'm usually better but with Sarah coming back, and trying to keep things going." Chuck said.

"It's okay Chuck, you're so organized the rest of the time this is the first time in a while I'm earning my pay check." She said wetting his head.

"Still, I have no idea what I'd do without you. How are you doing with Casey in New York?" Chuck asked.

"Chuck, I told you before, this thing with Casey and I, it's not like a big deal. We just like having dinner every once in a while, and… you know." She said smiling.

"Oh! I don't want to think about Casey ever You Knowing!" Chuck said looking green.

"He's quiet good at the You Knowing. I was shocked." She said laughing at Chuck's uncomfortable face.

"Aside from that, how are you two doing, for real." Chuck said reaching up and taking her hand.

"Good, really good. We see each other about three or four times a week when he's in town between missions and things are good. Chuck, I'm old, Casey is old. At a cretin point you just want someone to hold you. To eat dinner with you. To You Know, with you." She said. "After Scott married Anna four years ago I thought I would be getting grand babies, but they're both so busy they barely have time to You Know together." She said laughing.

"I keep trying to get them to take time off but they just keep going. I think after this mission we are all going to take a trip out to the island again. It's coming up on our ten year anniversary you know?" Chuck said smiling.

"Has it been ten years already?" Jordan asked washing out the gray.

"It has." Chuck said sadly.

"She'll come back like she always does. This mission is just a little longer that's all." She said handing him a towel.

"I know, it's just, hard. Hard to be away for so long. Hard to keep Mary calm about it. She's also having doubts about her skills. She says this is the last mission, but she can't stop. She's too much like my mother. It's going to take an injury to stop her." Chuck said sadly.

"You knew what you were getting when you said I do." She said patting him on the back.

"And I never regretted it once. It's just, she's got to keep her head in the game and it's getting harder for her when Mary and I are at home waiting for her. She feels guilty and that's going to get her killed." Chuck said.

"When she comes home sit her down and talk about it with her. It's the only way to work this out. Until then you need to relax and let her work, and the rest of the team will keep her safe. Casey, Anna, and Sam are watching and waiting for the go order. And that's not counting Melissa and Carina. You have to stay calm Chuck, not for you, but for Mary." Jordan said hugging him.

"My Wise Angel." Chuck said holding her.

"There you go again calling me old." She said patting him on the back.

"Never old. Always wise." He said kissing his on the cheek.

"Now go home." She said.

"Yes ma'am." He said walking out. He walked into the café and waved at Christy. "Keep up the good work. I'll see you tomorrow." He said heading out to the car.

When the elevator doors opened up into his penthouse apartment his Father was still sitting in the living room. "Hey pop. What's going on?" Chuck asked pulling off his tie.

"We put little Mary to bed about two hours ago and then she got up just now to get a drink. Your mother is in there with her." Steven said smiling.

"I'll go see." Chuck said walking down the hall to his daughter's room. He stopped at the door and heard his mother talking to little Mary.

"I'm sure your Daddy will be home soon." His mother said.

"Are you sure? Maybe he went with mommy! Then both of them will be gone!" Little Mary said.

"Hey kid, are you giving grandma a hard time?" Chuck asked as he walked into the room. Little Mary was out of bed in a flash and she was hugging him.

"Daddy!" She said.

Chuck held her tight and then pulled back to look her over. She was a carbon copy of her mother and Chuck had no problem with that. Tucking her blond hair behind her ear he kissed her forehead. "My little princess. Why are you still up?" He asked putting her back in bed. He tucked her in and handed her the green bear she kept with her all the time.

"I was worried you would go with Mommy." She said looking ready to cry.

"How can I go with Mommy? I have to work here. Who's going to take care of RI? Grandpa? Can you imagine?" Chuck said smiling. He handed his gun to his mother and laid on her small bed next to her making her laugh at his big size.

Little Mary giggled. "No, but… you saw Mommy and I thought you would go with her." Mary said.

"I did see Mommy tonight. She misses you very much and she's trying really hard to get the mission over with to come back home." Chuck said kissing her cheek.

"When is she coming home?" Mary asked laying her head on Chuck's shoulder.

"A couple of months at the most. She's really close to finding the bad guys." Chuck said playing with her hair.

"Good. I miss Mommy." Mary said looking sad.

"What do you miss about Mommy?" Chuck asked holding her.

"I miss the way Mommy talks to me, and tells me stories, and the nice way she smells." Mary said.

"And I don't talk to you?" Chuck asked pouting.

"No Daddy! Not like this. She tells me stories!" Mary said.

"But I tell you stories too." Chuck said. "I'm starting to feel like I'm not your favorite." Chuck said sticking his bottom lip out.

"No, Dadddy, you're my favorite." She said laughing.

"Your just saying that because I'm here, but I'm okay with that. Mommy is my favorite too." Chuck said smiling.

"I know. Mommy told me." Mary said giggling.

"Told you? What do you mean?" Chuck asked.

"She told me stories, about you and mommy and Aunt Melissa and Aunt Jordan, and Uncle Casey. And everyone." Mary said.

"So that's what you're talking about. What has Mommy told you about so far?" Chuck asked.

"She said she was a great spy, and that she came to Los Angelis to find you. She said you were really cute and brave and smart. She said she fell in love with you the first time she saw you." Mary said.

"She's right you know. You mother was the best spy in the world. And the most beautiful women I've ever seen. That day she walked into the Buy More I dropped everything and tried really hard to not make a fool of myself in front of her. We went on a date and your Uncle Casey chased us down. It was scary." Chuck said tiredly.

"Why would Uncle Casey chase you and Mommy?" Mary asked looking shocked.

"Because, before your uncle Casey knew us, it was his job to get a computer program from your Mommy and Me." Chuck said drifting off.

"Daddy, what happened Next?" She asked excited.

"Next you go to sleep and I'll tell you more tomorrow." He mumbled wrapping her in a hug, before he started snoring.

"I love you Daddy." Mary said laying her head on his chest and falling asleep.

"Love you too Angel." He muttered with a smile.

THE END… FOR NOW


End file.
